Generations: Finding Home
by Charlotte1
Summary: Alecia Malfoy, Rachel Weasley and Katie Potter are starting their 1st year at Hogwarts. Leshia stumbles onto a trail that might lead to the whereabouts of her missing mother Hermione. Can she convince Draco before it's too late? Will they save her on time
1. Part One

Title: **Generations: Finding Home**

_Part One in my Generations series_

Disclaimer: Everything apart from the OCs and the words belong to JK Rowling.

**People who will enjoy my story**: Next generation at Hogwarts fans, Draco/Hermione fans, Draco as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher fans…uh…people with taste ( :-) only kidding, it does help though)

Summary: Six years after Hermione bore Draco a daughter she mysteriously disappeared. Now Leshia Malfoy is off to Hogwarts with her best friends Katie Potter and Rachel Weasley. Draco Malfoy is going along too, much to his daughter's annoyance, to take up the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. It is sure to be an action packed year when hints as to Hermione's disappearance and whereabouts start appearing.

**READ THIS**: UPDATE 06/08/06: Hi, I've re-written the beginning of this chapter because it was crap before. When I started writing this story it was a sort of for my own eyes sort of thing, but then I realised I could make much more of it. The quality of writing isn't as good as it gets later on (second or third chapter maybe? But it does increase substantially from story to story), and also when I wrote this story I was still putting spaces inappropriately at the beginning of dialogue, e.g. " Hello." As apposed to "Hello." Anyway, I've started repairing that and the language, but it's tough work. I guess my point is, read on!! Even if this chapter or story disappoints, it gets better I promise and before you know it you'll be hooked!

Possibly HBP spoilers

**Generations: Finding Home**

**Part I**

_Alecia Tristyn Malfoy_

_Dockstreet 43_

_WC1E 7JL_

_London_

_United Kingdom_

Draco Malfoy stared at the letter on the grand kitchen table with a resigned sigh. Time had snuck by faster than it should have been allowed, and now, it was too late: Leshia was off to Hogwarts. The young man sighed heavily once more, as he brought his hand up to his neatly shorn hair and rubbed the back of his head. If only Hermione could see him now, he thought to himself gravely, she would discombobulate him for letting their little girl grow up without her father's undivided attention and support. As much as he liked to pretend, Leshia was no longer the small girl he'd been abandoned with when Hermione tragically disappeared all those years ago. She had all but grown up, and though in stature she was still a titch, in mind she was just as mature and mischievous as her mother had been before her.

Another heavy sigh escaped the young man's lips as he reached out and twirled the heavy letter in his hands, allowing the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry emblem atop the wax seal to pass in and out of view. It had been too long since he'd visited the school he'd once left in such a disgrace. The last time he had stepped through the doors was to seek Albus Dumbledore's help when it first became apparent that Hermione was not coming back. Five years…it had been five years. The school held nothing but unpleasant memories for Draco, with the events of his last year contorting any happy memories that might have gone before. All was now well in the wizarding world with Albus Dumbledore's seemingly miraculous, though in actual fact all just part of a plan, recovery, and with the defeat of Voldemort at the hands of Draco and his once rival Harry Potter. Considered a hero almost, Draco still felt as though he had to atone for his many sins and had thrown himself into the ministry whole-heartedly. It hadn't left time for much else, including his young daughter.

A fourth sigh, the loudest of them all, made Draco's shoulders droop impossibly low, as he pondered the discussion he had held with Albus Dumbledore the night before. What had he agreed to? What on earth had possessed him to agree to become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor? He had no experience teaching children. He had no business teaching students! Yes, he had been a very talented Auror in his time, helping the ministry scourge most of the dark following Voldemort had managed to draw about himself during his reign following his demise. A large proportion of the dark characters within Azkaban had been caught by none other than Draco Malfoy, their once ally turned traitor.

Ignoring the fact that Draco had never so much as taken part in the training of new Aurors in the department and had never in his life experienced the joys of teaching, he was sure Leshia was going to be spitting furious when she found out that her father was going to be following her to Hogwarts. She had been so looking forward for it for two years, waiting every summer to see if they might send for her a few years early due. How would she feel now she had finally got her letter and she was having to share the magnificent adventure with her old dad?

But he hadn't been able to let go, not yet. He'd squandered the last five years they'd had to themselves by throwing himself into his work, entirely pushing aside the fact that his little girl was quite without a mother and in dire need of some attention, and now, it was time to atone for that, the very greatest of his sins. Albus Dumbledore, ever the wise and insightful wizard that he always was, had given him this chance, and now he was going to take it with both hands. How hard could teaching be anyway?

In a whirlwind of sudden energy the heavy doors in the drawing room suddenly flew open, giving way to the little blur of eleven-year-old that was Leshia Malfoy. Short, sinewy and with a permanent expression of precocious mischief on her pretty little face, one might think her to be sly and shifty before she had even opened her mouth. One would not be mistaken! The perfect design for her troublesome demeanour, Leshia Malfoy was a troublemaker like her father before her, but with the good and kind heart of her mother now gone. She was a joy to be around, except of course if you were the subject of her mischief making. Draco could not have been prouder of her.

"Has it come? Has it come?" the words came tumbling from her mouth, and only now did Draco see the worried frown on his daughter's face. Behind her in the hallway her two greatest friends and allies in the world had crept in: Katie Potter and Rachel Weasley. Cousins, one would not think it to look at them. One tall and dark with the beauty of her parents and the grace of angels, the other quite average in stature and yet with a feisty attractiveness accentuated by her flaming red hair and freckled face, Katie and Rachel could not have differed more. Clutched in their hands were two letters and instantly Draco realised what had his daughter so worried. They had evidently received their letters that morning at the burrow, where all three best friends had been staying for the past two weeks, with the notable absence of a letter for Leshia. The poor girl had been in a state wondering whether she wasn't good enough for Hogwarts after all. Was she to be a squib the rest of her life?

"What this?" Draco asked casually as he reached held up his hand, the letter still clasped between his finger and thumb. The relief that washed over Leshia was visible as clear as day on her face, and before Draco could stop her the girl had crossed the kitchen as quick as lightning and snatched the heavy letter from his hand, a ridiculously pleased expression on her face.

"I can't believe it! It's finally here," she sighed dreamily as she tore it open and stared at the carefully printed words. "I am going after all!" she then called to her friends in the hall, and without so much a nod to her father she sprinted out into the hallway to join her best friends in a tremendously silly victory dance.

"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about," came the voice of Ginny Potter. Wife to Harry and mother to their two children, Katie and Michael, Ginny had been helping her mother supervise the children at the Burrow these past two weeks. Quite frankly she was more than ready to hand over the two interlopers to their respective families. The trouble those three girls got themselves into when they got together was quite astounding really. With a small smile Draco climbed out of his seat gingerly, before he made his way out to the hallway where the girls were still celebrating.

"Ginny," Draco called to the young woman he now considered a friend. Carefully avoiding the flying elbows Draco manoeuvred round the children and dutifully embraced Ginny in welcome. "To what do I owe this pleasure? I thought I was supposed to come round later this evening to collect this one." The red-haired woman grinned wryly as her eyes twinkled up at Draco.

"I couldn't have handled her paranoid twittering all day Draco," she laughed genially. "She's been driving us all mad, haven't you Leesh? Over breakfast she was telling us about how she was going to make her life as a squib." Draco saw the fond teasing for what it was and chuckled. In the middle of the hall the girls had finally let one another go, which only led to Leshia throwing her arms round her father's chest nearly bowling him to the ground.

"Hi dad," she cheered in a gloriously good mood. "I missed you! We've had so much fun; you should have been there! Yesterday Grandpa Weasley took us up Glenmoore Hill and we raced all the way back to the burrow on our brooms. It was great! I won!"

"Only because you cheated," Rachel interrupted with a broad grin.

"No I didn't," Leshia retorted gleefully, as she released her father and turned around to grin at her friends. "You're just sore losers that's all. I won fair and square, didn't I Ginny?" The young woman held up her hands and glanced to Draco.

"I can't say girls," she laughed. "I wasn't even there."

"Can I get you a cup of tea or anything?" Draco offered loudly over the girls' loud, yet fond argument over who had rightfully won their race.

"A cup of tea would be lovely!"

Five minutes later and Draco and Ginny were sat at the kitchen table, she with a steaming cup of tea, while the girls had taken to dragging Leshia's bags from her stay at the burrow up to her room.

"You're not looking so good Draco," she told him frankly, yet with concern in her pretty face.

"Cheers," Draco chuckled, feigning an affronted expression, but there was truth in Ginny's words. His skin was pasty and his eyes dark, ringed by even darker and blotchy skin, but not only that, with time only for working, sleeping, washing and on occasion eating, the once fine figure of a man that was Draco Malfoy had withered a little bit. He was thinner, and with no time for exercise his muscles had suffered slight atrophy and had withered away to a certain extent. Nothing could detract from his dangerous good looks, but he did not hold the awe of women in the street as he once did.

"I'm just worried about you," Ginny sighed. "We all are. You haven't come to the burrow once this year, and the only time we managed to get you to the manor for a party you snuck out after ten minutes." Draco rolled his eyes fondly.

"I'm not exactly welcome at the burrow Ginny, and as for that party? I couldn't help it; I had an important deadline the next day. I did tell you I wouldn't be able to stay long."

"Draco you're always welcome at the Burrow, don't be stupid," Ginny admonished. Yes, Molly was still incredibly suspicious and mistrustful of Draco Malfoy, but he was the father of Hermione's child and had been her husband, so unfortunately, she could not turn him away in good faith.

"Actually there's something I wanted to tell you," Draco began, but he promptly shut his mouth when a clattering of feet on the stairs signified the eminent return of the girls. Ginny frowned at the young man as Leshia and her friends burst into the kitchen.

"We want to go into town now to get our things for school mum," Katie exclaimed with a big grin.

"Yeah, I bet my dad and uncle Harry are wondering what's happened to us," Rachel added cheerfully.

"Yes, we'll go in a minute girls," Ginny soothed. "Are you okay Leesh?" Draco looked up sharply at these words to find his daughter staring at the table with a deep frown set into her forehead. After a few moments she looked at him in complete confusion.

"Dad where's all your stuff?" she asked eventually.

"What stuff?" Draco asked fondly, trying to evade this conversation until he could talk to his daughter in private about his new post later on.

"You know, your work stuff," the young girl repeated. It was true that since he had accepted the position of teacher at Hogwarts the night before Draco had cleared away all his papers that had normally littered the kitchen table to his study. He hadn't realised what a dramatic difference it made. As though suddenly realising that yes, the kitchen looked entirely different Ginny abruptly sat up straight and looked around herself.

"My God, you're right!" she exclaimed. "I don't think I've seen the surface of this table in years."

"Don't exaggerate," Draco complained amusedly and he climbed to his feet, ruffling Leshia's hair as he went. "So we're going into town are we?"

"Yes!" all three girls cheered, quickly forgetting about the curious change in the kitchen. Fifteen minutes later and the five of them had made their way to the Leaky Cauldron, which was only a five-minute walk down the road. Here they met Harry and Ron, who had entertained themselves while they waited with a few pints of frostbeer. As a direct consequence of this, they were what you would call slightly squiffy.

"It's about time," Ron exclaimed loudly when he saw his sister lead the rest of the little party in. "We've been here ages!" Ginny's eyes roved over the four empty pint glasses and grinned.

"Yes I can see that." After kissing her husband, the young woman urged the men to their feet.

"Draco! You're out of the house!" Ron mock-gasped when he saw the young man bringing up the rear behind the excitable girls. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Very funny Weasley," he sighed in a droll voice.

"Seriously though mate, it's good to see you. You should join us more often, it's not fun being a recluse you know," Harry cut in with a grin.

"It's got it's benefits," Draco countered cheerfully, ducking under the low doorframe into the little yard at the back of the pub, where Ginny was already carefully tapping out the sequence needed to open the gateway into Diagon Alley. "I don't have to hang out with you losers for starters."

"He makes me feel so special inside," Ron announced tearfully, his hand over his heart while Harry sniggered at the theatrics.

"Where's Lavender?" Draco enquired.

"Looking after the brood," came the cheerful reply. "Well someone's got to." Indeed, Ron and Lavender Brown had acquired quite a substantial brood since they had wed so many years before; with six daughters and an infant son, the couple were constantly overrun with 'child' stuff, and with Rachel being the eldest and only just going off to school, they had a lot more such years to come.

"Should have stopped after two like any sensible man would," Harry teased fondly.

"Why have two when you can have one perfect child?" Draco added with a proud grin at his daughter, who at this moment was gearing herself up beside her friend; ready to sprint through the gateway into the street beyond the moment it opened. Harry and Ron exchanged grins, but said nothing of it; Draco's daughter was the one thing that they tried to avoid teasing him about, as they feared the repercussions. The word overprotective didn't do Draco justice. Needless to say, they were quite thankful that their daughters were relatively mild in comparison to the troublemaker that was Leshia Malfoy. Yes, when they got together they were all as bad as each other, but the brains of the operation was definitely the little blonde hellion that had been spawned by mixing a fantastically intelligent witch with a fantastically evil wizard.

Now girls, don't run off," Ginny was telling the children as the stones rearranged themselves to make way for the bustling street beyond. Her warning wasn't heeded though and within seconds the three girls had disappeared into the crowd. With her hands raised to the heavens Ginny spun around and looked at the men as though to say, 'they're you're responsibility now!'

"We'll meet you in Flourish and Blotts Gin, don't worry, we'll find them," Harry told his wife, and after an adoring grin the young witch was gone.

"Oh we will will we?" Ron asked amusedly.

"Come on, I know where they are," Draco told the men and led the way down the bustling street. As usual, his perceptiveness paid off and after he had led the way straight to _Quality Quidditch Supplies_ they soon found their daughters with their faces pressed up against the window as they ogled the racing brooms on display there. "If you don't mind kids, we don't want to hang about all day."

"But dad…" Leshia began. However, she soon found herself dragged into the crook of her father's arm and frogmarched across the street to _Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions_.

"First years aren't even allowed brooms," Draco told the girl amusedly when he noticed the disgruntled expression on her face.

"Doesn't mean I can't have one at home does it?"

"I just bought you a new broom at Christmas time."

"Yeah, but it's so old now," Leshia tried, but seeing her pleading wasn't going to get her anywhere and that she was finally in this shop to try on her Hogwarts robes (something she had longed for every time they walked past) she promptly shut up and grinned angelically at the woman that was approaching them.

"Well well, is it that time already?" the woman remarked curiously as her eyes roved over Draco's face then to his child's. "Hogwarts right?"

"If you wouldn't mind," Draco replied coolly.

"Follow me," Madam Malkin commanded and she waltzed into the depths of her shop just as Harry and Ron led their daughters inside. "I'll be with you shortly!" came the call. Leshia had already rushed after the shopkeeper leaving Draco to amble after her and by the time he reached the little measuring podiums he himself had stood upon twenty-odd years ago, the girl had already donned the quintessential black Hogwarts robes and Madam Malkin was making the suitable adjustments. The sight of his little girl in her robes made Draco's heart ache. Why did she have to grow up?

"How do I look dad?" the girl asked gleefully, her features so bright and excited they made Draco grin despite himself.

"Short," he chuckled when he saw how far the robes dangled below her ankles, when in truth it was meant to be a knee-length robe.

"Dad!" the girl complained with gleeful laughter. "Other than that, how do I look?"

"Like your mother." He hadn't intended to say it, but it had just slipped out. In truth, the girl was the spitting image of her mother at this very second in time, aside from the colour of her hair and eyes, which had come from Draco's side of the family. What was peculiar about the girl was though she had inherited many of Draco's fine features, and would obviously be a stunning young woman one day; they had been so arranged that she looked so very much like her mother could have done had Hermione tamed her wild hair and fixed her teeth at a much younger age. Yes Hermione had certainly been beautiful later in life, but it didn't half make Draco laugh when he remembered how she first appeared at Hogwarts twenty years ago.

Draco rarely liked to talk about Hermione, it was too painful still, but Leshia was different. Every scrap of information regarding her mother that she could get her hands on she devoured, and this little reference to Hermione made the girl indescribably proud, causing her to don a very silly grin.

"There we go love," Madam Malkin was saying as she helped the girl out of the robes in order for her to set her tools to task making the alterations. "Won't be long. If you come back in ten minutes they'll be ready for you."

"Can we go to the pet shop dad?" Leshia asked hopefully.

"We should maybe do that last Leesh," he replied, as Katie dashed past him (she was next in line) followed by her father. "Shall we all meet up in the bookshop? Saves us all waiting around." Harry thought it was a splendid idea, and so moments later Draco was leading Leshia up the street towards Olivander's. The girl's excitement had reached fever pitch and as Draco pushed the door open Leshia burst in ahead of him. The dreary dusty shop had not enjoyed a makeover when Olivander returned to his post after his period of hiding. In fact, it would be safe to say that it had fallen into disrepair over the years, and Draco had to fight the urge to sneeze the moment he walked in.

"Good morning," a quizzical voice came from the shadows between the vast mountains of wand cases. "I wasn't sure I'd ever see another Malfoy in here again." Draco felt his whole body go rigid when the old man's words reached them from his hiding place. Leshia had no knowledge of the disgrace he had become in his sixth year at school, and Draco would fight tooth and nail to keep her in the dark over his past evil misdoings. Luckily the girl was too awed by the shop and the mysterious disembodied voice that seemed to know who she was to care about what it was actually saying.

"Good morning," Leshia called back hopefully, hoping to lure the shopkeeper out.

"How curious," the old man's voice was continuing. "So like your mother. Hmmm…we shall have to try…ah, ten inches, vine wood with a unicorn hair. Try it." Without warning, what Leshia had presumed to be a shadow suddenly burst forth behind the desk and before she could stop herself, she had jumped back into her father. Mr Olivander had hardly changed since the day Draco walked into this very shop seeking his first wand. Still grey and wild looking, the old man was an enigma. Terrifying, and yet strangely, this didn't matter, you felt like you wanted to know everything about him. The old man was holding a wand out to Leshia.

"Leshia, go on," Draco encouraged his daughter as he nudged her in the back (mainly to remove her from his feet that she had accidentally jumped onto in her panic at Olivander's sudden arrival). Unsure of what her father wanted her to do the girl glanced up with wide eyes.

"What?"

"Take the wand you silly girl," Draco laughed.

"Oh." As though a jolt of electricity had surged through her, Leshia's hand flew up in a jerky motion, her fingers reaching out to touch the wand. Where she had expected to feel something…anything at all…she was colossally disappointed not to.

"Give it a wave girl," Olivander prompted and on command Leshia waved the wand about jerkily setting off jets of white-hot energy that singed the ceiling, creating a little rainstorm of plaster chippings. "No, that won't do." With this the old man disappeared into his shelf maze muttering to himself while Leshia placed the wand back on the counter, after which she glanced back nervously to her father.

"I wouldn't worry about it little one," he told her softly with a small grin. "I broke the front window with one of my attempts." This restored the girl's confidence and she giggled, picturing the pandemonium.

"Try this one," Olivander's voice came from the gloom and once more he darted into the open behind the counter with a beautiful cream silken box. Very delicately he pulled the lid off and moved aside the felt cloth to reveal a highly polished mid-length wand.

"Eleven inches, chestnut wood complete with a dragon heartstring," Olivander explained quietly. His beady eyes narrowed as Leshia moved forward to take the wand from his hand, evidently his quick mind going into overdrive over something.

The moment Leshia's fingers closed around the wand Olivander held out to her, she felt her fingers tingle. A weightlessness spread through her body making her feel giddy, and without having to be guided she swished the wand eliciting a spray of glittering sparkles.

"Excellent," Olivander exclaimed slowly as he took the wand from the girl's hand and put it into its box. "A very fine wand Miss Malfoy. Temperamental as they come, but capable of great things." Leshia was given the beautiful box to hold while Draco paid and soon he was leading her outside.

"That was lucky," he told her cheerfully. "I heard about this boy who went through all the wands in the shop, and by the end of it they still hadn't found the right one for him, so he had to go home and couldn't go."

"Dad! You're lying," Leshia complained happily.

"Me? Would I ever lie to you my dearest?" Draco asked mocking an affronted expression. Leshia donned an adoring expression and clutched onto her father's arm.

"Can we get my pet now?"

"Not yet! We've got a dozen other things to get first." And so Draco led his daughter past the pet shop – with great difficulty, in fact, it would be more apt to say that he dragged his daughter past the pet shop – and into the Cauldron shop where Draco bought his daughter the pewter cauldron she needed for her years at school. The girl couldn't have been any less interested and she glumly followed her father through to the apothecary to collect the basic ingredients she would need and a set of scales. Following this they went to collect her robes to find them nicely completed and wrapped. Once more Draco paid. By now they were laden down with packages and Leshia's enthusiasm was waning.

"Come on, let's go find the others in the bookshop," Draco told his daughter brusquely, trying to shake her out of her mood. Within no time they'd located the others in Flourish and Blotts, and in the presence of the other girls Leshia's excitement grew anew. Draco was looking quite grim as he searched through the rows of books to find the one's on his daughter's list.

"You look like you're having fun," came the voice of Ginny, before she appeared moments later, equally as laden down with packaged objects. Draco grinned wryly.

"Leshia's getting impatient," he explained.

"And this trip to Diagon Alley is the longest time you've spent out in public in donkeys years isn't it?" the woman asked frankly. Draco narrowed his eyes and her and wanted very much to refute what she had said, but when he thought about it, she was right.

"Well so what if it is?" he demanded impatiently. "There's hoards of pushy people about, why would I want to throw myself into their midst's willingly?" Ginny smiled and then looked around to see the girls giggling over in the corner. She didn't push Draco; he was there and that was all that mattered.

"So what did you want to tell me earlier?" she asked curiously.

"Oh yeah," Draco said and he felt a sliver of worry run through him. It felt as though if he didn't tell anyone then it might not become a reality and as this exposure to crowds of people had made the agoraphobe inside of him very twitchy, he was wondering whether packing up shop and moving to teach hoards of unruly children at Hogwarts was such a good idea. "That…"

"It's something to do with work isn't it?" Ginny correctly guessed. Draco furrowed his brow at her. "Earlier, in the kitchen, you were trying to distract Leshia from asking too much about your work. What's happened Draco? I've never seen you sitting at an empty table in your own home before. It's always work, work, work. So spill." Draco glanced into his friend's eyes and he sighed heavily. Ginny was a good listener, and since Hermione's disappearance she had become a good friend. Perhaps it was that she was so like his dear lost wife that Draco trusted her, but either way, Ginny was the only one he'd ever talk to.

"I'm not going to be working for the ministry anymore," Draco said softly. Ginny's eyes went wide in shock and her lips parted slightly in surprise. What a turn up for the books!

"Why? What happened?" Draco shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck agitatedly.

"Albus," he said simply. "He brought Leshia's letter round last night, and…well…he sort of offered me a job."

"As what?"

"As a cleaner. What do you think?" Draco quipped, crueller than he had intended. After a small apologetic look he continued, "No as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Ginny. He wants _me_ to be a teacher."

"And you said yes to be near Leshia," Ginny correctly guessed once more. Draco nodded, his head hanging.

"Do you think…do you think it was the wrong decision?" Ginny exhaled slowly as she pondered what Draco had told her.

"As much as the idea of you trying to teach a load of hyperactive eleven-year-olds makes me want to roll around laughing," she began with a big smile. "I have to admit; I can't imagine anything more suited to you."

"You think?" Draco asked sounding entirely unsure.

"Yes!" Ginny squeaked excitedly. "You're one of the greatest Aurors the ministry ever saw, _and_ you grew up around this sort of stuff. I can't think of anyone better to teach the next generation about how to protect yourself from dark magic than you. The amount of experience you've got is phenomenal." A small smile wormed its way onto Draco's handsome face.

"So you think it's a good idea?"

"It's a brilliant idea! And besides, now you can keep an eye on our three, who you know are going to cause trouble from the second they step foot inside that castle to the second they're either expelled, or through some lucky chance actually graduate." Draco chuckled and looked across the shop to where the three girls had their heads bowed together –a mischief precursor if ever he saw one.

"Do you think she'll hate me for it?"

"Draco," Ginny laughed fondly. "That girl adores you. She completely and utterly idolises you, and it seems that the harder you've pushed her away…"

"Steady on," Draco complained, but in truth, he couldn't argue with Ginny on this one.

"No Draco, you have. And I know the two of you are extremely close and that you love Leshia, but that girl is desperate for your attention, and I feel that this is exactly what she needs."

"I hope you're right."

XXX

Leshia, Katie and Rachel slurped at their Milkshakes happily as their parents sat at the neighbouring table with all the packages being flat out ignored. Not that they minded, they were reliving old times, as they often did when they got together. The girls were watching all the youngsters walk past; trying to guess which ones would be in their year. Already they'd seen a nasty looking young man with fine pointy features, being followed about by his short and portly parents. He looked like trouble, and the glare he had cast Leshia had made her feel indignant with anger. What right did a stranger have to glare at her?

"Hey look at that boy," Leshia suddenly laughed and she pointed across the street to where a good-looking young boy was standing awkwardly studying the pets in the window of _Magical Menagerie_. At his side stood a young bohemian-looking man and a beautiful young woman. All three had an element of dumnfoundedness about them, as though everything they laid their eyes on was new and fascinating. What surprised Leshia was that the parents of this boy looked even younger than her own father, which she found most odd, as her father had been only nineteen when she was born, in a time when a mass baby boom took place, exactly nine months after the end of the War.

"Muggles," Rachel chuckled amusedly.

"It looks like he's going to be in our year," Leshia remarked interestedly. "He looks cool."

"He looks strange," Katie cut in with a wrinkled brow. "Look at his hair, it's all blonde and weird."

"What's wrong with blonde hair?" Leshia laughed and she tore her eyes away from the fun-looking boy to feign a glare at Katie.

"Nothing," the bespectacled girl quickly offered shrilly. "Your hair's lovely." Both Rachel and Leshia started laughing loudly and they didn't stop until their parents climbed to their feet deigning it time finally for the girls' most anticipated portion of the trip. Leshia, Rachel and Katie rushed ahead of their parents to the shop the muggle boy and his parents had gone into, and were now currently looking at rats in. They took the small shop by storm and within seconds of their having entered it it became awash with excited chatter and a flurry of activity. Leshia headed straight for the cages containing the little kittens, while Katie and Rachel had their hearts set on owls. It took Leshia a grand total of two seconds to choose her desired animal companion.

"Ah," the girl exclaimed in shock as something small scrambled up the side of one of the cages and leapt onto her. Dark and silver striped, the fluffy little kitten was absolutely adorable, but what had Leshia so taken with it, was its urge to cause mischief. They were a match made in heaven.

"Dad I want this one!" the words tumbled from her mouth as she rushed across the room to Draco, who had only just set foot inside the door having deposited all the other packages in the shop front outside.

"_That _one?" he exclaimed with a teasing frown on his face. Quite unceremoniously he lifted the squirming little kitten from his daughter's arms and raised it to his eyelevel.

"Yes," Leshia said patiently. "I want that one."

"This little titch?"

"Yes!"

"You're sure?"

"Dad!"

"Wouldn't you rather have a nice toad or something?" By now Leshia had lost patience with her father's game and she merely crossed her arms and started tapping her foot in sheer indignation. Draco saw he was pushing it too far and smiled adoringly at the girl, placing the kitten back in her arms. "Go on then, if you must." The change in the eleven-year-old was instantaneous as a huge smile sprung onto Leshia's pretty face.

"Thank you!" she cheered, before she charged over to the counter with her new cat. Draco followed entirely amused by his child to pay for the cat, his leather money pouch feeling much lighter than when he had taken it out earlier on. The muggle family that had walked in ahead of the girls were at the counter paying for a rat the boy had picked.

"Hi," Leshia said boldly to the young boy.

"Hi," he replied with equal vigour.

"Are you a muggle?" the girl asked curiously, managing to overlook the interesting accent the boy spoke with – had she known any better then she might have recognised a pseudo Scandinavian American twang to it.

"A what?" the boy asked with a furrowed brow answering Leshia's question straight away.

"Cool! I've never seen a muggle down Diagon Alley before! You're new at Hogwarts aren't you? So are we, my best friends and me. They're over there. They're buying owls. I tried to tell them not to, but they wouldn't listen. Oh you've got a rat? They're cool too. I definitely think rats and cats are the best, don't you?" For a moment the boy stood stunned, trying to keep up with everything this confidant girl had just spoken. At the counter the boy's father started chuckling very softly, while his mother tried to suppress her laughter. It wasn't often they saw their son silenced for words, even when he got his letter and they arrived in this strange street the boy kept cool and full of bravado, but the arrival of this charismatic youngster had thrown him off balance.

"Yeah," he merely managed with an embarrassed grin. "I'm Rodeo," he added soon after, trying to think of anything to say that might impress the girl.

"Leshia," she replied happily. "This is my dad," she quickly added when she realised her father was standing behind her and had been for quite some time. Rodeo glanced up at Draco and then instantly wished he hadn't, as he was being stared at quite darkly. "And this is my new cat," Leshia added. "I think I'm going to call him Phillius."

"Right," Rodeo managed. "Um, you're magic then are you?" Leshia frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I mean, you grew up with magic right?"

"Yes," Draco spoke for the first time, quite firmly. So firmly in fact, that Rodeo's parents turned around and glanced at the man who had spoken so seriously to their son. Upon seeing the stoic expression upon Draco's face they tried to smile at him and nod, but he merely returned the nod before looking away.

"Come on Rhodes," the muggle man at the counter said cheerfully, with a very strange accent as well. "We've got to go get your, uh, wand." The man had spoken as though in complete disbelief of the words he was speaking. In fact, it would be quite a while before Rodeo Holsson's father adjusted to the fact that there was such a thing as Magic in the world and that his son was in fact, a wizard. He had rather hoped the boy would follow him into the sport of ice hockey for his profession.

"I'll see you at school," Leshia said happily. "Good luck with choosing your wand. I got mine on the second go, but my dad told me about this boy that went through all the wands in the shop, but he still didn't find one so he couldn't go to school!" Draco snorted with laughter despite himself at his daughter's mischief, which earned him a softer look from Rodeo's father. So, this other man was human, well that was nice to know.

"Oh, okay," Rodeo managed seemingly very worried now about choosing his wand.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get one on your first go," Leshia assured the boy with a big grin. With this the muggle family left the shop, allowing Draco to pay for the kitten Leshia had chosen. Both Rachel and Katie had chosen owls and by now everyone was so laden down with packages that they had to call it a day, each flooing their own separate ways from the Leaky Cauldron.

XXX

"All packed?" Draco asked his daughter as she came careening down the stairs and into the informal living room – or rather, the 'muggle room' as Draco liked to call it seeing as this was the only room in the house with a television (something Leshia had pleaded with him for) – where the take away food had been deposited by a lazy Draco. Leshia adored curries, something they discovered when Tally (the Malfoys' one and only Houself) had taken a bad fall and had been off work for a week meaning Draco had to provide dinner. Having no time to cook they'd experimented with the local muggle take away restaurants and it was thus that Leshia discovered her love for Indian food. Every now and then Draco would indulge her.

It was their last night at home before the Hogwarts Express would bear them both to the school, up north and as of yet Leshia was still unaware that she would not be taking the trip alone. Draco had bottled out every single evening this week until now, on the last possible day, he was going to have to tell his daughter his secret. He could tell she was a bit suspicious, as he had spent more time with her in the last few days than in the last half year combined, and Tally had started packing a trunk for Draco in plain view of Leshia. She was quite easily fooled by Draco explaining that Tally was going slightly senile and the stupid elf believed him to be going to school and not the girl, and yet still part of her suspected something was up.

"Oh I love this programme," Leshia said excitedly as one of those awful muggle cartoons came on the television about a dysfunctional family in America. Draco was entirely sure he shouldn't let his daughter watch such a dreadful muggle contraption, but it had proved so useful in the past whenever he had to work and had no time for her. Besides, up until now Leshia had been attending a muggle school to keep her occupied during the days when Draco worked, and she had argued that she had to appear to be normal to her muggle classmates, and keeping up to date with the latest television programmes was apparently central to this plan.

"Are you all packed?" Draco repeated when he hadn't had a word out of the girl. She nodded as she tucked into her naan bread. "Everything? You can't turn the train around if you find you forgot something you know." Leshia grinned.

"I know," she managed through a mouthful of food. "Hey dad?" she asked a few moments later.

"Hmm?"

"Were you worried about what house you were going to be sorted into when you went to school?" the girl asked curiously.

"No," he replied truthfully. "I knew I was going into Slytherin."

"How?"

"I just did. Everyone in my family had always been in Slytherin." Leshia seemed incredibly downhearted about this. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to be in Slytherin," the girl said softly. "But if everyone in your family always went into Slytherin, and if you did…then I will too."

"Your mother was in Gryffindor," Draco countered. "And besides, you're not like me when I was your age. I was horrid." Leshia giggled and ignored the truth that was in Draco's words.

"Actually," Draco said worriedly, and the tone of his voice caused Leshia to turn and face him; her father so rarely faltered. "There was something I wanted to talk to you about…something about school." Leshia stayed silent as her scheming eyes watched her father's face. Draco got the impression that she had known this would be coming. "See, your letter, well, it didn't come in the post, but Albus Dumbledore, your new headmaster dropped it off personally." Leshia still remained silent. "He did that, because he wanted to talk to me about something. He…" Draco trailed off and rubbed the ash blonde bristles on the back of his head anxiously.

"He what?" Leshia asked seriously when her father remained silent.

"He offered me a job Leshia, and I said yes." For a moment Leshia stared at her father, before very slowly she looked away in thought.

"So you're also going to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid so." The sound of the dreadful family on television was all that filled the room while Leshia tried to deal with this surprising piece of information. Her father was going to be at Hogwarts. Part of her was mortified at the thought. No one else would have their father at the school. Would they think her to be some sort of baby that couldn't leave home without her father in tow? But these feelings were being smothered out by the overwhelming joy that was threatening to burst out at knowing that she didn't have to leave her dad after all. She would never have told him, but over the last few days the realisation that she was going to be leaving him had made her teary eyed every night she went to bed, and the thought of being so far away from him had made the breathe catch in her chest.

Since the disappearance of her mother, Leshia had become incredibly insecurely attached to her father, and quite clingy. In the beginning she couldn't even bear to be away from him for a mere few hours. School soon saw to that, but she had incredible separation anxiety. After this nights at Katie's or Rachel's became a hurdle, so much so that on most nights Draco would look up from his place at the kitchen table deeply buried in his work to find a sniffling little girl come shuffling in in her pyjamas accompanied by a tired looking Ginny, Harry or Ron. Over the years they managed to successfully work their way up to a few weeks at a time here and there at the burrow, or at Potter Manor and sometimes even at Rachel's house, but a whole three months away from Draco had been quite unthinkable and Leshia had been dreading it.

"What are you thinking?" her father asked eventually, when Leshia had remained in silence for quite some time. For a few moments longer she remained staring blankly at the TV, before all of a sudden she erupted into a hyperactive blur of joy. First she hugged Draco, then she danced about the room, before finally settling in another hug from her father. He couldn't even attempt to hide the joy that his daughter not only approved of his new position, but evidently was deliriously happy to have him near her.

"Can we go pack your trunk?" Leshia asked excitedly as she bounced up onto her feet again. Laughing Draco indulged her and followed her up to his room where she started throwing his clothes around willy-nilly, aiming for his trunk and inevitably always missing. He couldn't even muster the negative emotion to get cross with her.

XXX

The following morning the house was chaotic as Draco tried to get Leshia organised in order for them to catch their train. Tally had dutifully accepted to come with the father and daughter to Hogwarts in order to aid them in their duties. Draco hadn't actually asked her this favour, instead she had taken it upon herself, claiming that she could and would only ever serve the Malfoys. The little Houself had already apparated ahead to Hogsmeade in order to get Draco's quarters – consisting of the office beside his classroom and a bedroom adjoining that – homely for his arrival. Draco meanwhile stood at the bottom of the stairs with the two trunks and with Philly's (the name Phillius had in fact lasted a mere half an hour before the abridged name became standard practice) lead firmly clutched in his hand. Philly was a nightmare of a kitten, very much like his owner, he was constantly trying to get into mischief and so required a firm hold otherwise he'd be off in the flower pots, or trampling over the kitchen surfaces.

Leshia was nowhere to be seen and Draco had been calling up to her for the last half an hour.

"We won't be going anywhere unless you shift it," Draco called up the stairs amusedly.

"Dad calm down, I'm here," Leshia's voice came and she sounded closer. "It's not like we have far to go, it's just up the road," the girl said happily and she flounced down the stairs looking peculiarly unlike herself.

"What have you done to yourself?" Draco asked accusingly. Leshia frowned at him.

"Nothing," she finally replied and lifted her school satchel over her shoulder and took Philly's lead from her father's hand before trying to bustle out with the handle of her trunk in her other hand, but Draco was blocking her path.

"You're wearing make-up aren't you?" he finally exclaimed in surprise.

"I thought we were in a hurry dad! Come on!" Leshia complained. "And anyway, Katie told me to do it, she said people would think I was cool. It's only this blusher stuff."

"That's the last time you take advice from Katie Potter you understand? You're only eleven for goodness sake," Draco grumbled as he headed out with his trunk in hand too.

"Are we meeting Rachel and Katie at the station?" Leshia asked eagerly as they bustled up the road, though people of course turned to stare at the trunks and the fluffy silver tabby on the lead.

"Yes," Draco replied impatiently as he tried to hurry on. Leshia ran to keep up with him and soon they were walking into the packed station. They quickly found the barrier and charged through to find the train was luckily still there. Draco helped his daughter with her trunk and then dragged his own to the other end of the platform (he had seen the students peering at him, wondering why a parent was travelling with his daughter and he wished to save her some embarrassment). Leshia trailed up and down the aisle until finally she heard her name being yelled.

"Leesh!" Rachel's voice came and before Leshia realised what was going on she had been yanked inside a cabin that already housed Katie.

"Where have you been, we were scared you wouldn't make it," the raven-haired girl accused. Leshia frowned confusedly at the girl, before she shook her head as if to say they had bigger things on their mind.

"What? Look I have something huge to tell you!" she exclaimed magnanimously, before she lifted Philly onto a seat so he wouldn't be squashed while she lifted her trunk (with the help of her friends) onto the luggage rack.

"Well go on then, tell us," Rachel urged once they'd retaken their seats.

"My dad is going to be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Leshia explained with a wrinkled brow. Since the night before she'd had time to truly digest her father's story and now, though still happy he was going to be there, she was concerned that all the plans they had made would be significantly more difficult with Draco about the place. He was legendary at catching her in the art of troublemaking. Katie and Rachel looked stunned.

"You're joking right?" Rachel demanded with a wrinkled nose. Leshia shook her head.

"You're serious?" Katie demanded.

"Cross my heart," Leshia insisted and the girls ebbed into silence.

"Wow, that's…weird," Rachel finally spoke, but then she smiled. "But still, good right? I mean, I bet you're happy." Leshia smiled fondly at her friend and nodded.

"Yeah I am, but still, part of me is worried." With this the conversation was disprupted by the train pulling out of the station and the girls waving like mad at Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lavender who had all turned out for the occasion. Afterwards it did not resume.

"We're going to be in Gryffindor for sure," Rachel suddenly exclaimed instead.

"With parents like ours, what could go wrong?" Katie said, but then suddenly thought better of it and glanced at Leshia. "I mean…" But Leshia was grinning.

"He's reformed isn't he?" she said cheerfully. "Besides, I'm practically a Weasley I've spent so much time at the Burrow!" The other two laughed and nodded. "And all Weasleys go into Gryffindor, they're thinking of renaming it Weasley, because in a few years, it's going to be crawling with redheads." The others laughed even more and they playfully reached out and play-hit their friend.

It was a joke however, that had the potential to become a reality, in that already four Weasleys, Luke and Tom the sons of Bill and Charlie, and Amy and Sarah, the daughters of Fred and George, had places in the Gryffindor house. Following in their wake came the many dozens of little siblings, which would threaten to turn the house red should they all find places in the house.

The girls continued to ponder what houses they might end up in occasionally being amused by kids that would walk past, and then do a double take when they recognised the children of some of the most famous witches and wizards around.

"I bet that's going to get real annoying," Leshia said after a while. The other two laughed but then all three looked to the door in shock. A tearful little girl had just opened the door.

"I've got a message from some kids up the aisle," she sniffed. The girls furrowed their brows before urging the girl to carry on. "They said that," the girl stuttered. "They said that if you set one foot in Hogwarts they'll kill you!" With that the girl squeaked again and rushed out bawling. The girls looked back at one and other in wonder.

"Oh this is ridiculous," Leshia finally exclaimed. "We can't have made enemies already! Let's go see who it is."

"No Leesh!" Katie exclaimed. "We can't get in trouble already, what would your dad say?"

"Yeah, well think what he would say if he heard people were threatening us before we'd even stepped foot inside the castle?" she retorted with one raised eyebrow.

"Well he'd tell them off," Katie said.

"Yeah, so why don't we tell him?" Rachel added. Leshia stared at her friends incredulously.

"Well I'm going to see who it is," she said simply and she got to her feet and waltzed out. Not wanting their ringleader to suffer alone the other two follower her in a scramble and were soon following her up the aisle as she stopped at every cabin and asked, " Okay, so who has a problem with us?" Finally they found the right cabin and a very sly boy got to his feet.

"I do you filthy traitor," he growled. Leshia wasn't intimidated by him in the slightest, and her friends too gained their strength on being threatened as such. Leshia narrowed her eyes at him, she'd met his sort before.

"Get over yourself," she said in a blasé sort of tone and then instantly regretted it as the boy sent a hex flying her way. She suddenly fell to the floor rigidly, unable to move as though her joints had frozen up.

"What is going on here?" a very angry sounding voice came and within moments a tall boy had arrived on the scene. He looked down at Leshia in surprise and quickly said the counter curse finally freeing her of her predicament.

"Couldn't leave them alone for five minutes could you Ashton, well that's detention for you and you'll miss the feast!" the boy barked.

"Hey they came looking for me," this Ashton boy retorted.

"Yeah only after you threatened us," Leshia bit back angrily.

"That's enough, go along girls unless you want to be in trouble too. Malfoy I'll be notifying your father immediately of your behavior." The girls didn't need telling twice and they rushed back to their cabin, where Rachel dropped down pulling Philly onto her lap – ever since she had started to play with Philly she had regretted her choice of Owl. The girls chatted about their excitement until the lunch cart came round. They quickly got everything, but barely had a chance to enjoy it as moments after digging in a handsome face peered round the door.

"Dad," Leshia complained weakly, knowing why he had come.

"Are you in trouble already?" he asked sounding amused.

"Nearly, but not quite, so it's okay," Leshia explained.

"Hi Draco!" the two girls chorused. Draco smiled fondly at them.

"Hi," he replied and he pulled back slightly. "Well as long as everything's okay," he said before heading up the train again.

"Your dad is so sweet," Katie said once the door had slid closed and they were digging into their food once more. Leshia shrugged. She knew she was loved and rarely complained about Draco, because he had always been a cool relaxed sort of father – well except for the obsessive protectiveness, but that side rarely surfaced.

"He's okay, you know," Leshia said with a shrug. "As far as dads go." Her friends chuckled and got back to their food – they knew how attached Leshia was to Draco. 'Daddy's girl' did not do her justice. And so they ate, as the train led them closer and closer to the school.

"It's getting dark, we should put our robes on," Katie told the other and they agreed. So making sure Philly stayed on the seats, they lifted down their heavy trunks and found their robes packed in varying shades of neatness ranging from pristine in Katie's case, to slovenly in Rachel's. They pulled them over their clothes and sat anxiously awaiting instruction as they pulled into a steamy station.

"Dad told me to leave him," Leshia sighed as she put a sleepy Philly back on his lead and tied him to her trunk. The kitten didn't seem to mind, but the girls felt very bad about leaving him.

"First years this way," a deep booming voice the children recognised was coming from the platform. With their worrying thoughts of Philly pushed away they raced out to see a tall figure looming over their fellow excited first years.

"Hagrid!" the three girls chorused and sprinted up to the half-giant, embracing him firmly.

"'Allo you lot," Hagrid greeted them cheerfully and he continued to probe them with questions of their respectful families as he led the startled first years to a series of boats. At this point he turned to the year group.

"Right, four per boat, hurry now," he told them and helped hold the nearest boat still while the girls clambered in. They were joined by another small girl who was beaming shyly at them. They grinned back and sat back as the boats sailed across the giant lake towards the great castle that loomed overhead.

"Wow," Rachel finally let out appreciably. "Dad wasn't wrong, this place is great!" The boats entered the underground network and soon stopped at a flight of stairs. The kids quickly swarmed out and were led to a waiting hall besides the great hall. They were all too awed to notice that the portraits waved cheerily as they walked past and that a suit of armour followed them curiously for a while before loosing interest and finding something better to do. Once they got inside the children broke into rushed whispers.

"Did you see that ghost?" one little girl was whispering to her new friend.

"And the pictures on the walls were all moving!" another boy was gasping. The trio, already used to the wizarding world as most were, simply stared around themselves appreciatively. They didn't have long to chat because soon a formidable looking woman walked in.

"Hello children," she said firmly. "I am Professor McGonagall. Shortly you will be taken into the great hall where the other students are seated, and you will be sorted into your houses. Everyone should take this opportunity to make themselves look presentable, as you only get one chance at a first impression." The children quickly struggled to straighten their robes and flatten their hair, before the stern looking woman threw open the doors and led the line of children through crowded great hall. Leshia found herself near the front beside the shell-shocked boy she had met the other day in town. He seemed much more relaxed now he had had a few days to come to grips with everything.

"Hi," Leshia whispered with a grin.

"Hey," he replied in his foreign accent. "You were right," he added in a whisper as they walked down the aisle.

"About what?"

"Got my wand first go!" Leshia grinned at the boy and then looked ahead to see her father sat beside a long-haired professor with a ghastly hooked nose. Leshia knew this to be Severus Snape, a very unpleasant man she had encountered but a few times. He disliked her, she was sure of it, but then again, Snape seemed to dislike everybody. Draco had told the girl once that he hated the adoration he got from the community, which he earned when he resurrected Dumbledore and his part in the big plan at the end of the wr was explained.

Draco was watching her and the boy with a stoical expression. Rodeo saw him at the same time as Leshia did and he froze a little bit with wide eyes.

"You didn't tell me he was a teacher."

"I didn't know till yesterday," Leshia replied apologetically, by which point they had reached the front of the hall and she had to keep quiet.

"Now, each of you will come forward as I call your name and the hat will sort you into your houses," McGonagall called out to them and from nowhere a scroll appeared and she started to read names. Despite herself, Leshia felt a little pang of glee when Holsson, Rodeo was sorted into Gryffindor. Finally McGonagall reached Leshia, and she was the first of the three to face the trial.

"Malfoy, Leshia," McGonagall read aloud. Leshia pushed away all the twittering that had started, ignored Cole Ashton and his cronies' glares and even managed to turn a blind eye to Draco's intent gaze as she sat down and the hat was lowered onto her head. For a moment there was nothing, but then…

"_Ah, very interesting. I never thought I'd see another Malfoy enter this school after what happened to the last_," a small voice came. Leshia couldn't help it, but she got defensive at what appeared to be a jab at her father. So he'd been a bully, so what? Of course, she couldn't know the hat's true meaning.

"_Yeah well I'm here aren't I?_" she bit back cockily.

"_Definitely a Malfoy with all that cheek,_" the voice chuckled."_I ought to put you in Slytherin where the Malfoys feel at home…_"

"_No, not Slytherin! I want to be in Gryffindor_," Leshia countered quickly, trying to repent for her cheek.

"_You certainly have qualities that would be best suited for Slytherin,_" the hat countered.

"_I'm not one of _them," Leshia thought fiercely.

"_You have your mother's qualities too I see,_" the hat chuckled and Leshia felt a stab at this mention of Hermione. "_And those qualities far outweigh your father's heritage. Very well, Gryffindor it is then._"

"Gryffindor!" the hat called out and Leshia opened her eyes with a big smile as the Gryffindor table burst into cheers. Luke, Tom, Sarah and Amy, the Weasley clan already in Gryffindor cheered the loudest and as Leshia sat down she felt several hands pat her on the back.

"Well done," Sarah told jubilantly and they all fell silent again. Leshia looked up to the main table and saw that Draco was giving her a small proud smile that spoke more than a thousand words could. Dumbledore too was smiling happily at her. Leshia beamed back and waited until Katie and Rachel were also sorted into Gryffindor (to more cheering). Reed, Ashley and White, Nicola were also sorted into Gryffindor and the girls noted that the small girl who had joined their boat transpired to be Nicola White. Rodeo and his new pal Parys Jackson were both sitting opposite the girls and soon a conversations truck up as the food materialised on their plates.

"I'm muggle born," Rodeo explained to those not in the know – Leshia felt quite smug to have known this fact already. " My dad's a pro hockeyer and my mum's a model, so they're pretty relaxed most of the time anyhow."

"What's a hockeyer?" Leshia asked with a frown. Rodeo grinned.

"Ice hockey, it's a sport, I'll show it to you when the lake freezes over," he explained.

"Does it involve brooms?" Rachel asked conversationally. Rodeo's eyebrows raised so high they retreated above his dark ash blonde mop of hair.

"Brooms?" he finally managed and the girls filled him in on quidditch. Parys, who was a half-blood, seemed fascinated with the sport and told them he wanted to play for the team.

"My mum never played though when she was at school," he said with a shrug. "Not like you guys, it's in your blood." He was looking enviably at the trio of pure-bloods who had so much family history between them at this school they could write a massive book.

"Oh yeah, you guys from long standing wizarding families then?" Rodeo asked curiously.

"Well," Rachel began. "We're both part Weasleys, they're about as far back as you can go. Well along with the Malfoys, who Leshia's from. Katie's dad's Harry Potter, that should say it all really. My mum's from a long family and Leshia's mum was the best witch of her day but like you, muggle born," she explained. Leshia looked a little withdrawn.

"Don't say was like that," she finally said trying light-heartedness.

"I'm sorry?" Rodeo asked curiously.

"Well my mum she…" Leshia inhaled slowly. "She disappeared five years ago. I know she's not dead. So…just don't say was."

"Sorry Leesh," Rachel said sounding mortified with herself. Leshia shrugged.

"No harm done," she said and looked up at the table to see her dad in a merry conversation with Snape (if merry could possibly be the right word).

"So you really only found out yesterday that he's a teacher now?" Rodeo asked with a strange look.

"Yeah, he's going to be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," she replied and looked back at the muggle-born boy. Rodeo grinned.

"Right," he said and then frowned. "What's that?" The others laughed and they all got to know each other as the dinner went on. Soon they couldn't eat any more and the food disappeared from their plates. Dumbledore stood up to make his usual quirky speech. The girls were fascinated by the old man, until finally he came to introduce Draco.

"Now then, we come to new introductions. I would like everyone to give a very warm welcome to our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Draco Malfoy. He has kindly agreed to share his vast knowledge on the subject with you and I hope you will all make him feel most at home." The pupils in the school, started to applaud loudly and Leshia was mortified when she noticed girls all around the hall nudging one another.

"Uh," she remarked suddenly.

"What?" Katie asked curiously.

"They all fancy my dad," Leshia complained, causing her friends to look at the girls in the older years. Leshia was not mistaken.

"Ugh yuck!" the cousins agreed. The children remained in good spirits while they sang the school song and then finally they were given leave to go to their new common rooms. The Gryffindors filed after their house and up an intricate set of stairwells they were sure never to remember, until finally they reached a portrait of a very fat lady.

"Password?" she ordered.

"Goozeberry," the prefect who had led the way relayed and soon the painting swung away revealing the hole in the wall. Everyone crammed in and went 'left' or 'right' depending on which way they were being ordered and soon they found a door with 'First Years' printed on it. Leshia and the girls pushed forward and found themselves in a very comfortable dormitory. Their cases had been brought up, as had their pets and Leshia quickly rushed to her new bed to find Philly sleeping soundly, and empty bowl of cat milk at his side. The girls quickly changed into their pyjamas and then climbed into bed. Leshia pulled Philly into the crook of her arm and looked up at the draped ceiling of her bed.

"Goodnight guys," she barely managed before she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

XXX

Leshia woke the next day with a start as someone threw open her curtains and jumped on her bed.

"What the…" she uttered, blinking furiously in the bright light. Finally her eyes focused on some red hair. "Rachel!" she bellowed and pushed her friend off her bed. Across the room Katie was changing, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

"Got you too huh?" she mumbled tiredly. Leshia yawned and stretched before swinging her legs over her bed and changing into her uniform, over which she pulled her robes. She quickly brushed her hair up into a clip before pulling on her clunky sketchers over her bare feet.

"Ready?" Rachel beamed at her friends and she led them down to the crowded common room. Once there they were accosted by Luke and Tom, who ruffled their hair and tickled them until they escaped into the corridor and got away.

"Uh…anyone remember the way?" Leshia asked as they found themselves in an only vaguely familiar corridor.

"You want to take the third turn up there loves, then straight down and make a right at the end," a helpful painting suggested. The girls followed this advice and soon heard the hubbub of fellow students milling around, so the followed the sound and found the entrance hall.

"Well that was easy," Katie said happily and she and the others walked through and found empty places at the breakfast table. They quickly helped themselves to meagre breakfasts – still being full from the night before – and looked around themselves interestedly. Once they had caught the menacing glares of Cole Ashton and his cronies however, they turned back to their table. Leshia was the last to do so, but not after delivering a rude gesture she was sure half the hall saw. Luckily none of the teachers did and Leshia quickly glanced up to see not even her father had been watching. He was reading the Prophet with one hand and stirring his coffee with the other. It was a comforting sight to behold, he had done this every day for the last eleven and a half years as far as Leshia could remember. It was little things such as this that kept them going without the third part of their family present. Halfway through breakfast McGonagall flounced down the table giving out timetables.

"Oh look, we're got Defence Against the Dark Arts first thing," Rachel said cheerfully. Leshia looked at her own timetable quickly.

"Oh yeah," she said sounding less happy about this. Soon breakfast was over and they took the fifteen minute break before class to try and find the classroom they were supposed to be headed for. They reached the line of queuing Slytherins, whom they would be sharing this lesson with, just as Draco came striding up the corridor. Within the week of healthy eating and some healthy exercise, he had started to bulk out again to his former glory, while his skin seemed alive and vibrant once more. The usual morning stubble that had always adorned his face still remained and all in all, he had not looked so good in a long time. He was also blissfully unaware that almost the entire female student body had started pining for him – including some of the staff.

"No one enters this room until every shirt is tucked in," he said as he waited by the door. His tone was so powerful, and his face so alarmingly amused that no one knew what to make of him, but then checked their shirts – including Leshia, who had been instantly caught out by Draco's strange behaviour. Many Slytherins begrudgingly tucked in their shirts, but all the Gryffindors had been presentable already. As soon as the last Slytherin had complied (albeit slowly) he pushed the door open and walked in, leaving it open for the class, who filed in after him. Leshia took a seat half way from the front to the back and noticed the Slytherins were watching her carefully, to see how her father would react to her and whether they would be able to tease her even more. It felt strange to be sat in a classroom with nineteen other children while her father stood at the front writing something on her blackboard. When he was done he stepped back and everyone read the string of Latin that stood there. Everyone furrowed their brows.

"By the end of this term, you should all be able to read this," Draco told them and he leaned casually against his desk. "Those who cannot by this time will undoubtedly fail, so I suggest you get up to speed, or half of what I'll teach you will be pointless, and the other half will probably backfire…" he began, but then the small girl Nicola started laughing. Everyone stared at her in disbelief, but Draco smiled dashingly at her. "Good, I am glad to see at least one of you will pass this year." Leshia felt indescribably jealous and she turned to Leshia with a half ferocious, half questioning frown.

"It's a joke," Nicola whispered.

"Silence," Draco's bellow came and everyone froze in their seats with wide eyes, including Leshia. Draco turned around from the blackboard slowly and this time he looked serious with a dangerous smile. "Silence," he repeated softer this time. "I am the one who speaks, you speak when asked to, understood?" Nicola nodded quickly and Leshia felt bad for getting her in trouble.

"Sorry," she mouthed and Nicola shrugged – she was made of tough stuff.

"Silence also refers to non-verbal forms of communication Miss Malfoy, do _not_ make me repeat myself," Draco said firmly and had to try very hard to suppress his smile when twenty shocked faces turned to stare at him. So he treated his daughter the same as everyone else? Leshia was the most shocked and she was so put out by her father's dismissal of her that she decided to be belligerent the whole lesson long.

"Right," Draco said, regaining control of the class, and noticing that Leshia was the only one not looking at him – she was staring furiously at the ground and the sight made him want to smile even more. "Who can tell me why it is important to learn about the dark arts?" Nineteen hands shot in the air.

"Miss Weasley," Draco said urging her with a wave of his hand.

"Well it's in the name isn't it," Rachel said cheerfully. "So we can recognise when wizards are about to use it and defend against it."

"An excellent answer," Draco said matter-of-factly. "Five points for Gryffindor." Rachel beamed at her friends, but Leshia barely managed a small smile back. "And what do you think I'll be teaching you on this course?" He continued to probe the class with questions, and was quite happy with the calibre of this group. Several Slytherins were haughty and sly, and he punished them more than their Gryffindor counterparts, but at least everyone in the class had answered a question by the end of the lesson. Everyone, except Leshia.

"Miss Malfoy?" Draco suddenly said and Leshia glared at him. "Everyone else has made a contribution to today's lesson, I was wondering if you might have something you would like to add?" Leshia waited for a whole minute in silence.

"No," she finally said in an unreadable tone and then added slightly petulantly, "Professor Malfoy." Draco fought once more to hide his smile; she was so adorable it was getting harder. He'd always been amused by Hermione when she was mad at him, she had been the exact same.

"Very well, maybe next time," he said and moved to the front of the class. "Before we next meet I want everyone to read up on the basic principles of curses and counter curses so as we might start practicing a few on Wednesday." The class grinned at each other. At this point the bell went and Draco was glad to see nobody moved, they had responded to his 'tough cop' regime and he instant respect. "You may go," he said with a wave of his hand and after the sound of scraping chairs had met his ears he watched as the class filed out – none quicker than Leshia, who darted ahead of the group and who's frustrated grumblings could be heard down the corridor. Once the classroom had cleared Draco cracked up and shook his head before going to greet his next class, who would be sufficiently harder to intimidate – a group of seventh years (and yet he would manage, and soon would become one of the most feared and yet one of the most favoured teachers at the school).

XXX

"I can't believe he put me down like that in front of everyone just for mouthing something," Leshia grumbled for the umpteenth time as they struggled to find their way to Potions. "It's not like I made a noise! He said silence! I was bloody silent!"

"He's actually doing you a favour," Rachel said bluntly, though she was smiling. Leshia wheeled on her with hot fury in her expression. "Don't look at me like that it's true. He's showing everyone he's not going to give you preferential treatment, that's what you wanted right?" Leshia fumed silently.

"He embarrassed me on the first day!" she finally growled and stalked down the corridor to wait in line with the Ravenclaws. Katie and Rachel shook their heads fondly at each other before following suit. Potions turned out more disastrously than Defence Against the Dark Arts, as Snape seemed to hate Gryffindors and especially Katie and Rachel due to their parents. He accused Leshia of being a know-it-all like her mother when she answered a question to help Nicola who was struggling and once more fell silent and into belligerent mode. She lost her house ten points in that lesson and was glad it was time for break because she couldn't handle it any more. Her friends were having a great day however, and they couldn't stop chatting as they made their way out to the sunny grounds. They'd just sat down when an owl suddenly landed on Leshia's shoulder, it had a note tied to it's leg. Leshia grimly unfolded it and read:

_Stop being such a baby, you told me you didn't want me to treat you differently to anyone else so that's what I did. Next time you'd better speak or I'm going to change tack and call you sweetheart while showing everyone the baby photos!_

_Love dad…oh sorry…I mean_

_From: Professor Malfoy_

_P.S. Meet me at my office after dinner, I don't seem to remember packing a pink T-shirt in my trunk, nor some tiny shorts – I tried them on they're definitely not mine – I can only assume Tally's going mad. Unless you want me to wear them on Wednesday, I'd come get them_

"He's such an idiot," Leshia complained, but her heart wasn't in it and a smile was pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"Oh please keep quiet next time, I'd love to see those pictures!" Katie laughed.

"Yeah me too!" Rachel piped up. Now Leshia was truly grinning and she pushed them gently. Finally everything was back to normal.

XXX

Following break Charms and transfiguration went swimmingly and Leshia (now she was in a better mood) managed (with little effort) to demonstrate that she was her mother's daughter: just as gifted as Hermione had been. Lunch was a loud and merry affair and after a rather hair-razing Care of Magical Creatures lesson and a sleep inducing History of Magic lesson the girls were free to loll about the common room for a while. They quickly found out the pecking order when they were turfed from the cosy seats (though Philly was encouraged to stay) by some fourth years, who in turn were later scared away by some seventh years. In the end they settled by the window in the little window box and tried to make out the end of the lake.

"You won't find it," Luke's voice came and soon he joined their side.

"Yeah, last year a boy tried to swim out and find it, he never came back," Tom chimed in with a shake of his head.

"They're lying, don't believe them," Amy quickly reassured the girls. "How was your first day?" They all shrugged meekly.

"Leshia your dad went nuts in our lesson today, it was so cool!" Sarah suddenly exclaimed appearing at Amy's side.

"What do you mean?" Leshia asked worriedly.

"Well he walked over just as that wretch Cole Ashton was telling his mates how you were half m-word and that he was just waiting for his chance to get you," she said. Leshia raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" she asked sounding amused. "What did my dad do?"

"Demonstrated improper curse evasion on him," Amy replied gleefully.

"Had him dangling by his ankle spinning round the classroom," Sarah added with the same glee. "And when he finally put him down he said something along the lines of, 'talk like that about my daughter again you filthy maggot and it won't be your ankle I swing you round the room with'." Leshia's jaw dropped.

"He never!" she gasped. The girls cracked up.

"No, he didn't mention you, but that was the gist of it," Amy replied. Leshia sighed with relief and then grinned, maybe it wasn't all that bad having one of the most feared and respected teachers at the school fighting your battles for you, just as long as he didn't make a habit out of it.

"Come on, let's go for dinner," Tom said, who had been hovering nearby and together they all went down to the great hall and tucked in. Dinner was delicious and soon an over-stuffed Leshia was hobbling on her way to her dad's office, which was next to his classroom. She hesitated and after a few moments decided to knock, instead of bursting in.

"Come in," Draco's genial voice came and Leshia pushed the door open to find he wasn't alone. Snape was with him and they were having a drink, obviously reliving old times. Leshia went slightly white-faced seeing Snape and nearly glared at him.

"Leshia," Draco cheered genuinely. "What are you doing knocking, you don't have to knock!" Leshia shrugged and ambled over to them, walking round the side of the desk and leaning against her father still staring at the Potions Master.

"I got your note," she finally said when no one spoke and she looked at her father.

"Really? What did it say, I got some of my seventh years to write it," he said with all seriousness. Leshia grinned at him despite Snape's presence.

"Liar," she laughed. Draco shrugged and reached into a drawer retrieving some clothes that had obviously not belonged in his trunk. He indicated the small shorts on top of the pile.

"Now the less said on these the better," he said almost seriously. "Because if I see you wearing them in PE I shall have you locked in your dormitory and I won't let Minerva let you out for a month." Leshia felt her cheeks flush red with Snape's presence.

"They're not for PE," she grumbled and took the clothes hastily, before glancing to Snape who didn't show any inclination towards moving any time soon. She felt stung by this, she had wanted to catch up with Draco and tell him everything, but Snape made this difficult. "I'd better get to bed," she said softly and looked back to Draco. She saw his left eyebrow dip for a split second in concern, but then he smiled gently.

"Goodnight little one," he said softly and squeezed her neck comfortingly before she nodded to Snape.

"Goodnight Professor," she said coldly before rushing to the door. Once there she turned and saw both men watching her, so she quickly left and shut the door. She didn't stop hurrying until she reached her dormitory where she dumped her clothes in her open trunk and changed.

"You seem rattled," a sleepy Katie observed over an open copy of some quidditch book. Leshia shrugged.

"I don't like Snape," she said and she dropped down between her friends on Rachel's bed and pulled Philly towards her.

"Well who doesn't? But what's he got to do with rattles?" Rachel asked sleepily and she just about managed to open one eye as she asked.

"He was down there talking to dad," Leshia replied and she told her friends all about it.

"He's just being creepy," Katie said wisely. "Hey look, they're a new racing broom coming out in the Flash series!" This captured the other two's imagination and they soon were enveloped in quidditch stories. An hour later when everyone was sleepy once more everyone in the room screamed. The reason for their scream had been the flash of light and the loud crack and soon afterwards Tally appeared.

"Tally," Leshia panted. "My dad's houself," she told the others quickly. "What are you doing here?" she demanded wheeling on the now smartly dressed Tally.

"Tally's been sent by master to deliver Miss Malfoy something," Tally explained. Leshia looked Tally wearily up and down.

"Well what is it? I don't see anything," she said looking worried that the househelf was going mad. Suddenly Tally lunged at her and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. "Tally!" Leshia cried and wiped her cheek as her friends reeled with laughter.

"Tally has fulfilled her task," the househelf said formally before stepping back and disappearing again. Leshia blushed crimson and yet felt a little pleased, before she climbed into bed, Philly falling about her sleepily.

"Your dad is so sweet," Katie repeated herself and she rolled over too.

"Night guys," Leshia whispered and she fell asleep dreaming of quidditch glory.

XXX

The next morning Rachel repeated her worse-than-an-alarm-clock regime and this time earned herself a good pillow bashing from her friends. They all changed and flocked down to the great hall where they fell upon the food.

"I dreamt I heard a werewolf last night," Katie shuddered grimly. The other two looked up intrigued.

"Was a full moon," Leshia said helpfully.

"Yeah and the forbidden forest has got some pretty eerie occupants my dad says," Rachel added.

"Oh don't, you'll give me nightmares," Katie complained and she shuddered.

"What have we got first?" Leshia asked as she stretched lazily.

"Potions would you believe," Nicola replied from across the table. Leshia sighed heavily.

"Just what we all needed," she grumbled.

"Oh shut up, you'll ace potions now you're on form, we're still terminally hopeless," Rachel countered. Katie made a mock-insulted tone.

"Speak for yourself," she laughed.

"There's nothing fun about slaving away for a stone, it won't appreciate it anyhow," Leshia said philosophically. The other two smirked and then finally burst into sniggers.

"I think we should get a houself to kiss Leshia more often, look how funny she gets," Katie laughed.

"You kissed a houself?" Rodeo's gleeful tone came and Leshia spun around and play-glared at him.

"No, the houself kissed me stupid," she laughed and everyone suddenly turned to see the post arriving. Leshia wasn't holding out for much, because with Draco at school and her grandparent's dead, there wasn't anyone who would write to her, but to her utmost surprise a white owl landed at her plate with a letter attached. She took the letter and stared at it in confusion.

"Well aren't you going to open it?" Katie asked sounding amused.

"Love letter from Tally maybe?" Rachel added. Leshia grinned and flicked a pea at the latter, before turning over the letter and tearing it open. With a piece of toast in one hand and the letter in the other, she started to read:

_Dear Leshia,_

_I don't know what made me do it, but this morning I suddenly had the urge to write to you though I don't know why. I don't know you and you don't know me, and yet your name and Hogwarts keep setting off alarm bells so I thought I'd try. My name is also Leshia and I live in South America… I'm not sure what else to tell you… except that… somehow I know we have met before. If I could find out more about you, it would help. Perhaps you could tell me something about where you grew up._

_It would help more than you know._

_I have no recollection of where I grew up or where I'm from. I suffered severe amnesia… and yesterday this memory came to me. 'Leshia must be at Hogwarts'…I don't know what it means._

_I'm sorry if I have frightened you. _

_Please respond._

_Yours sincerely, Leshia Westcoast_

"Who's Leshia Westcoast?" Rachel asked simply as she glanced at the letter. Leshia shrugged.

"Read it, it'll explain," she said and she watched as her friends poured over the letter. They both frowned in unison.

"Weird," they finally concluded. Leshia chewed on her toast a little too much and suddenly began to choke as it trickled down her windpipe. Everyone in the vicinity stared as she loudly spluttered and downed some water. As a moth to a flame, Draco was by her side. By now people weren't watching, so she didn't feel ashamed.

"Okay, I was pretty sure I taught you how to chew," he said with a grin and patted her back firmly.

"Dad I'm fine," Leshia spluttered and she rubbed her back. "There's no need to knock the stuffing out of me."

"Sorry," Draco chuckled. "So what was it, the thrill of Snape's potions lessons too much for you?" Leshia scowled at him.

"You may have loved potions dad, but I certainly do not!" she said snootily.

"It was this letter," Katie said, still holding it in her hand. Leshia gave her an urgent look and quickly snatched it back.

"A letter?" Draco asked sounding intrigued.

"From a boy, it's private," Leshia said quickly, as her eyes landed on Rodeo coming towards them – or rather his friends beside them. Draco's brow raised fractionally.

"A boy?" he repeated slowly.

"Dad you should know what a boy is, you were one once," Leshia said with a grin. Draco shook himself out of his thoughts and inhaled.

"Right, well I'd better go to, uh, papers to mark and such," he said and he wandered away rubbing the back of his head agitatedly.

"Sorry Leesh," Katie quickly squealed looking thoroughly ashamed. Leshia grinned.

"It's okay, I just don't think he'd take it so well and there's…" she trailed off unable to find the right words.

"Something interesting about her?" Rachel suggested. Leshia nodded slowly.

"But it's more than that, I can't explain it." And she certainly tried, all the way through Potions and through Charms, break, all the way up to lunch. When she gave up and sat down to formulate a reply.

_Dear Ms Westcoast _("What the heck is a Ms anyway?" Leshia had demanded when Katie had forbidden her from writing Miss),

_This is Leshia _(" Well why shouldn't I put my surname she knows who I am!") _Malfoy, you were right in guessing I'm at Hogwarts, I'm in my first year. We just started two days ago. _

_I grew up in London. My mum disappeared when I was six. I uh _(" You can't write uh in a latter Leesh." " Well tough I'm keeping it in!") _love brooms, quidditch, books and I want to be an auror when I grow up. My dad used to be one, but now he teaches her at Hogwarts._

(" Say what you look like it might help!") _I'm _("Tall," Leshia had wanted to write. " Liar!") _very short, skinny _(" More scrawny I'd say." " Rachel!")_ and I have blonde hair. My dad says I look like my mum, but I say I look more like him. I would include a picture but that's just too weird._

_Right, if you have better questions to ask then send them over._

_Hope this helps._

_Leshia Malfoy_

"Well it's okay I guess," Katie said feeling a little miffed. Leshia had accepted none of her best proposals.

"It'll do," Leshia said and tucked the letter into her bag. "I'll write it out properly later."

"Come on, let's go outside, Rodeo's showing everyone what a football is," Rachel told the others.

"Ooh, do you think it's dangerous?" Katie asked eagerly as they hurried out. Needless to say they weren't impressed by the football and their disappointment lasted all for the rest of the day as during muggle studies they were bored by even more muggle inventions. Finally they were free and they ambled up to their common room to do an essay they had to write for Snape. They huddled over a shared copy of _Beginners Potions _and soon were entrenched in their essay. By dinner they'd hardly made any headway and they felt glum. Dinner cheered them up a little as Tom and Luke gave a running commentary of Amy eating. It made her so mad she threw a goblet straight at Tom, who transfigured it hastily before it hit him and turned it into a half rat half dove that made an awful racket. As dinner was drawing to a close Leshia felt something poke her leg. She looked under the table to see Tally grinning at her. Fearing more kisses Leshia pulled backwards and nearly toppled off the bench, but Tally, luckily, was only delivering a note this time. Leshia snatched it quickly and glanced at it:

_I haven't got any visitors this evening if you feel like a chat,_

_Love dad_

"I'll see you guys up in the common room," she told her friends and got to her feet following a crowd of fourth years out. She quickly changed directions and headed over to her dad's study. This time she didn't bother knocking and walked in to find him relaxed on the sofa by the fire with a glass of wine in his hand and a pupil's essay in his other.

"Have you been setting work already?" Leshia asked as she dropped down beside him and leaned against him.

"Got to find some way of intimidating the seventh years haven't I?" Draco said cheerily and wrapped his arm around his daughter. "How are you getting with the homework I set you? I wasn't kidding, jinxes and curses tomorrow," he added in the same tone, as though setting children work and sending jinxes flying at his daughter were worthy of the same mirth. "So little one, tell me everything." Leshia beamed at him and told him all about the dormitory, the lessons, the teachers, her housemates, until she was running out of things to say and was slumped back on the sofa leaning her head on her father's arm, which was slung casually across the back of the sofa. His wine had been drunk, and his glass refilled twice since.

"And then we told Rodeo where he could go stuff his football, and he thought we were serious, but we were laughing, so he laughed too, but I don't think he got it and yeah…that's pretty much everything until I walked in this room," she said and let out a content sigh.

"They're not pushing you hard enough," Draco said happily. "You shouldn't have time for muggle games. Want me to have a word with your teachers?" Leshia laughed out loud, recognising the joke for what it was.

"No!" she exclaimed happily. "And we have been working, on Snape's awful essay," she added grimly. "Oh yeah dad," she said sitting up.

"Hmm?" Draco murmured looking at the time and seeing that it was past the pupil's curfew.

"No more sending Tally with bedtime kisses, that was gross," Leshia said with a small smirk. Draco grinned.

"Okay well next time I'll come and deliver it personally at dinner when everyone's watching," he said mock-seriously. Leshia grinned trying to weigh up the pros and cons of each scenario. They seemed equally embarrassing. "Well how about now, may I kiss you goodnight?" he asked. Leshia grinned and nodded.

"Okay," she said and felt him kiss her forehead.

"I think I'd better walk you back," he said looking at the time again. Leshia followed his gaze and her eyes went wide. "Come on," he said and he held out his hand. She took it and they walked through the corridors until they reached the fat lady.

"Goodnight dad," Leshia said happily and she threw her arms around his neck (a tall order for one so tiny) and hugged him firmly.

"Night little one," he said softly and Leshia turned to the portrait.

"Gooseberry," she said firmly. The fat lady smiled sleepily and opened allowing Leshia access to the Gryffindor common room. Leshia turned to see Draco was walking away and she rushed inside and up to her dormitory where everyone was still up and reading in bed.

"Get everything off your chest?" Katie asked good-naturedly. Leshia nodded as she changed.

"No more Tally kisses," she said cheerfully as she climbed in bed. Moments later a tiny silver striped object landed on the bed, and trotted up towards her. By the time Philly reached the crook of her arm she was asleep.

XXX

The following day Leshia just barely avoided Rachel's morning attack when she heard Katie and Rachel play wrestling. Rachel had evidently woken her cousin, who didn't feel too glad about it. Leshia quickly snuck out the other end of her bed and started changing behind the cover of the four-poster. Rachel, unaware of Leshia's escape came charging into the bed, but was very disappointed to find it empty.

"Leesh!" Rachel laughed and poked her head out the other side. "Spoil my fun," she added.

"Well it's about time you learned that we're not going to put up with that for the next seven years," she said cheerfully and started to do her hair up.

"I hope this essay's good enough," Katie's voice came from the other end of the dormitory.

"But just think, after today, no more potions!" Leshia cheered.

"Well yeah," Ashley countered with a tired smile as she appeared from her bed. "Until Monday."

"Who cares?" Leshia said jubilantly. "That's four days away from Snape."

"Just imagine the homework he's going to set us," Rachel said with a grumble and she headed towards the door fully dressed. Leshia and Katie quickly followed with their schoolbags. They continued to complain about the potions master all the way down to breakfast. As they reached the entrance hall though a cluster of children caught their eye. They were standing by the notice boards pouring over a notice saying 'quidditch tryouts'. The girls glanced at it seeing they would take place in two Sundays' time.

"I don't think I'm going to bother," Rachel said as they walked through and sat down at their usual spots.

"Why? You're one of the best beaters I've seen," Leshia said frowning.

"Yeah but Luke and Tom are the beaters aren't they?" Katie said.

"Yeah and Sarah's a chaser," Rachel added.

"The only position they haven't filled is seeker," Katie finished. Leshia shirked her mouth to the side and furrowed her brow.

"Good point, well then none of us can tryout," she said and started buttering some toast.

"You can, you play seeker really well!" Rachel said slightly petulantly. Leshia smiled and shook her head.

"I'm not nearly good enough," she said cheerfully. "But I may as well tryout I guess, nothing to loose after all. Hey Katie?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you never try seeker, both your parents are amazing seekers?" Leshia asked. Katie shrugged.

"Too boring, I like being there in the thick of it," she said happily. Leshia shrugged with a smile.

"Fair enough." Her sentence was barely audible as suddenly the post owls flocked in to the great hall delivering parcels and letters. Seeing this reminded Leshia of the letter she was yet to post, and quickly on a whim she grabbed her neat copy and hailed the nearest owl. It landed obediently and she tied the letter to its leg.

"Can you bring this to Leshia Westcoast, she lives in South America," she said. The owl hooted several times and took a drink from Leshia's goblet, before flapping off again.

"What did you guys get?" she asked her friends, who were both reading letters, and clutching at sweets.

"Letter from dad, he's in Japan," Katie replied and she indicated the strange sweets. "He said if you take one of these your skin starts to change colour and wont stop until you take a bath!" Leshia and Rachel chortled and seriously considered taking one.

"My mum's just being mum," Rachel said and she showed them the stack of wizarding fashion and society magazines Lavender had sent. Leshia frowned momentarily when she saw the front page of the society magazine.

_News from abroad with our correspondent Rina Millard_

_Rina takes on the Americas_

"Mind if I look?" she asked Rachel, who looked like she didn't mind in the slightest. So Leshia took the magazine and poured over this Rina Millard's column. She was about to give up when her eye caught the caption of one of the moving pictures.

_The Americas institute on the west coast of Mexico… headed by esteemed witch Leshia Westcoast…_

"Look!" Leshia gasped and she showed her friends the caption.

"Is there no picture of her?" Katie asked curiously. Leshia shook her head and frowned.

"Weird," she muttered and got to her feet with the rest of the hall as the bell went. The girls headed out to the greenhouses where they would be having their first herbology lesson and couldn't help but wonder at this mysterious powerful witch. Herbology went by quickly as they were just learning the basics and then it was off to Defence Against the Dark Arts. They waited outside and quickly made sure their shirts were tucked in.

"I want to try the jelly legs jinx on Merta Zabini," Rachel said glaring at a Slytherin girl who had pushed her over the day before. As she said this the door opened quite suddenly and Nicola and Ashley who had been waiting at the front of the queue darted back. Draco appeared looking as dangerously confusing as ever and he stepped back dramatically allowing the children entrance. As they filed in they were surprised and excited to see the tables and chairs had been pushed back and a ring of soft mats had been laid out.

"Books away everyone, get your wands out," Draco called to the class as he closed the door after the last of the children. They quickly obliged and soon stood in a ring round the mats. "Right now would everyone get into pairs." Leshia and her friends looked at each other worriedly. How were they going to split into pairs.

"I'll go with you Leshia if that helps?" Rodeo suggested. Leshia smiled and nodded.

"Thanks," she said and she smiled at her friends before moving to stand beside Rodeo. Draco, as he scanned over the pairs nearly did a double take when he saw Leshia standing beside the good-looking young man. He quickly moved on and seeing everyone had managed that task he moved to stand on the edge of the ring between some Slytherins.

"Okay everyone lift their wands," Draco instructed and he lifted his own wand in demonstration. "To start with, I'm going to let you all practice jinxing me," he said. "You can all start with whatever jinx you like." The Slytherins looked at each other gleefully. " Right this is the proper stance…" He continued to explain the physical stance and the mental frame of mind and then moved to the centre of the ring. He motioned for Ashley to come forward. "Why don't you start us off Miss Reed?" She nervously stepped forward into the ring and assumed the correct stance and everyone watched interestedly as she pointed her wand at Draco and called out,

"_Engorgio_," she said quite firmly, but nothing happened. Draco smiled.

"Better luck next time," he said and he indicated the next child come forward. One by one they tried unsuccessfully to cast a spell. At one point in seemed a good looking Slytherin boy, one Julius Black, had succeeded because Draco started rolling on the ground shaking, but then he started laughing and he got to his feet saying, "I'm only kidding, nice try though." Something that had everybody laughing. Finally it was Leshia's go and she stepped forward a little anxiously.

"Okay Miss Malfoy, give it your best shot," Draco said with a charming smile.

"_Rictusempra_," his daughter said with a flick of her wrist. In an instant Draco countered.

"_Protego_," he said quickly and the charm bounced off. Everyone stared at Leshia impressed – even the Slytherins couldn't help themselves.

"Very good," Draco said and he couldn't help but sound proud. "Five points for Gryffindor." Leshia quickly retook her place in the ring and felt a rush of glee. No one else succeeded. Once everyone had gone again Draco looked around the class.

"Right, now I hope you've seen how hard it is to cast a successful spell," he said and he sat down on the mat cross-legged. The children quickly followed suit. "It's too early for me to start asking so much of you. Professor Flitwick will probably be most displeased with me, it will be he who teaches you the very basics of wand magic. Tomorrow we start work on Werewolves and Vampires, the very basic components of the dark arts. Following that we will look into Dementors, briefly cover Lord Voldemort and we will finish with Inferi. These topics will all be revisited later in your Hogwarts careers, so for now we will not go into too much detail. For the rest of today's lesson you can get in your pairs and try to paralyse the other. The only incantation I had better be hearing is _petrificus totalis_, or there will be immediate detention. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Professor Malfoy," everyone, including Leshia, chorused.

"Good, well of you go," he said. "Make sure you're an arms reach from your neighbours." The kids quickly rushed to separate up. "Good luck Mr Holsson, I think you will need it," Draco said softly to Rodeo as he paired up with Leshia once more. Soon the room was filled with lots of wand waving and incantations. Every now and then Rodeo would fall to the ground and Draco would amble over and revive him. Rodeo started falling over so regularly that Draco taught the spell to his daughter and now she was reviving him. By the tenth time Draco walked over again.

"Maybe you should give him a break, I'm not sure it's entirely healthy to be binded so frequently," he said and he looked to see Katie and Rachel were still struggling. "Why don't you swap partners?" Katie and Rachel looked up anxiously. "So what's it going to be girls? Which one of you wants to go with Miss Malfoy?" In the end Rachel gave a great big sigh and stepped forward.

"I will," she said and play-glowered at her friend. Leshia then continued to bind Rachel every now and then, but finally at the end of the lesson Rachel got her own back, when by pure chance she got it right and Leshia fell to the ground.

"I did it!" Rachel cheered and she bent over Leshia. "Ha ha, revenge Malfoy!" Inside Leshia was laughing, but she still had the slightly shocked expression on her face. Draco quickly made his way over and released Leshia who quickly darted to her feet.

"Nice one Rach!" she cheered and clapped her friend on the back.

"All right I think that'll do," Draco called to the class and they quickly stopped and sat down again. "Tomorrow I would like you to read the first chapter in your text books on werewolves," he explained. "There will be a short quiz at the beginning of the lesson to see how much you understand." The children groaned, but Draco had to merely raise his eyebrows and they fell silent. "I happen to know a werewolf, so later in the term he has consented to come and give a speech."

"I bet that'll be Lupin," Rachel whispered.

"Miss Weasley," Draco suddenly barked and Rachel winced, forgetting the silence rule. "Five points from Gryffindor." At this the bell went and everyone stayed seated. " Don't forget to do your reading," Draco reminded them. "Off you go." The girls quickly got to their feet and collected their bags as they filed out last. Leshia turned around at the door to catch Draco's eye, but her was using his wand to restore the classroom.

"Five points is a little harsh for one whisper," Rachel grumbled a little.

"Hey, at least he didn't tell you off when you weren't even making a sound," Leshia countered fondly.

"That lesson was by the far the best one so far!" Katie exclaimed happily as they headed towards the grounds for break. Break went by too quickly as everyone was fearing going to potions, but soon they found themselves sat in the potions dungeon, their essay scrolls flying across the room into Snape's outstretched hand. He tut tutted at the top essay (Katie's).

"Little meagre isn't it Miss Potter?" he sneered. Katie went bright red. It was not meagre, she had gone several inches over the minimum required amount. She remained quiet though, but she and her friends felt very riled up. First chance they got they escaped their lesson and hurried on to muggle studies where the Slytherins were waiting.

"So Malfoy," the unpleasant boy that had glared at Leshia in Diagon Alley spoke as he stepped forward. Damian Allseyer was the new ringleader of the Slytherin unpleasant bunch and he was living it up. " How long had you and daddy been practising that little display in class?" Leshia glared at him.

"Just because you have the competence of a squib doesn't mean the rest of us are useless," she sneered back.

"I'd watch my words if I were you blood-traitor," Allseyer snapped. "A quarter of this school is gunning for your blood to be spilled, it isn't too long before somebody gets to you! And there's nothing daddy can do about it."

"So you think you're more powerful than Voldemort do you? Because last I checked my dad destroyed him, so I don't think you'd pose any threat to him death-eater…"

"That is enough!" Professor Tinreed's voice came and an angry face appeared round the corner of the door. "Miss Malfoy, you do not accuse anyone of such things! Detention. Be at my office at five-o clock!" Leshia raised her eyebrows in defence.

"But Professor…"

"Do not make it worse! Right, everybody in," the rattled professor said and the children rushed to their seats. Leshia didn't speak all the way through the lesson, even when she was asked a direct question on cars. She knew the answer, it was obvious, but she was angry with the injustice of it all. Her petulance doubled her detention and she couldn't have been happier to get out of that lesson. She remained deathly quiet all the way to the great hall and only spoke when they sat down.

"He is not going to get away with this," she finally said in a steely tone. "That boy…what's his name?"

"I think its Damian, Damian Allseyer," Katie replied.

"Right. Well, Damian Allseyer is not going to get away with this!"

"Leesh," Rachel said uneasily. "I know it isn't fair that you got punished and he didn't, but don't do anything stupid."

"I'm not," Leshia complained. "I just have to think of a plan, that's all." The remainder of the day went by much more easily and they had a very fun Care of Magical creatures lesson with Hagrid in which he let them stroke a unicorn. After lessons they trudged up to the common room and started work on reading for Draco's lesson the next day, and soon five rolled by.

"I'll see you guys at dinner," Leshia said with a sigh and she headed off. On her way to Professor Tinreed's office she ran into Draco who was walking with Snape.

"I'll catch up with you," Draco told Snape who walked on. "In trouble already?"

"It wasn't my fault," Leshia grumbled. "Not really anyway. That pig Allseyer started it!"

"Yes well you were stupid enough to get caught Leesh, so you had it coming," Draco said sounding amused. "You should watch who you call names around here. We're still in uncertain times, and you don't need to draw attention to yourself, especially when twenty-five percent of the school population would like to see something nasty happen to you." He sounded concerned and Leshia felt rotten.

"I know, but he was insulting you," she grumbled.

"Was he now?" Draco asked sounding intrigued.

"Dad don't say anything," Leshia suddenly implored. Draco grinned darkly.

"No I won't say anything," he said and he started to walk off. "Have fun at detention sweetheart."

"Dad," Leshia hissed, but he was walking away properly now. Thoroughly fearing what he was going to do she headed on until she reached the office where Professor Tinreed was waiting with a pile of Muggle Newspapers that needed sorting into piles and then into chronological order. Tinreed went about her own work and wasn't paying attention to Leshia. It was a boring task, but then everything took a more interesting change.

"Woman found washed up on beach," she murmured aloud as she read and amazingly for the second time that day her eyes scanned over the name _Leshia Westcoast._ The newspaper was an American one based in California. Without hesitation Leshia stuffed the newspaper down her jumper and continued to sort with a burning sensation in her mind: curiosity. The rest of her punishment went by so slowly that seven seemed to positively crawl by. Finally she was free to go and she rushed off to join her friends in the great hall.

"Hi," they greeted her cheerfully, but she already had the yellowed newspaper out and was scanning the page for the article.

"Nice to see you too," Rachel said cheerfully, but then her eyes caught the same thing Leshia's had and she frowned. "What does it say? Read it aloud!" Leshia looked up impatiently, but did as she was told.

"_Yesterday, in the early hours of the morning native Californian Tom Wilkers, aged thirty-five, found a woman washed up on the beach. She was unconscious and dressed in strange thick robes. Wilkers brought her straight to the emergency room where her injuries were treated and where she was revived. The only word the woman could utter was 'Leshia', which she kept repeating for over an hour. Her strange mantra earned her the name Leshia Westcoast – in honour of where she was found – as she cannot remember anything of her life prior to her rescue. She is now recovering in hospital. We cannot release picture, because of the strange injuries she sustained, the police believe her to be a victim of attempted murder, and it would be dangerous to release such information._" Leshia finished and frowned, before looking at the date at the top of the newspaper. It was too withered to see (she had come across many as these while sorting).

"When's it from do you think?" Katie asked with a strange icy feeling in her gut.

"Date's rubbed out, it's not clear!" Leshia said sounding frustrated and she looked at the other things on the newspaper. They were all muggle news and useless for trying to place the date of this newspaper. Leshia sighed heavily and dropped the newspaper to the floor.

"Leesh," Katie said slowly. Leshia nodded as she served herself. "I don't…" Katie trailed off and she sounded forlorn. Leshia looked up curiously, Katie sounded very upset.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Well…don't you think it's a little coincidental?" Katie asked delicately.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I know we don't know how old this paper is and everything, but… well your mum goes missing in America and now there's this witch who's got amnesia and only remembers your name. She then remembers you're here and then writes to you…isn't that strange?" Leshia went very pale and she inhaled slowly. The thought had never occurred to her, but now Katie did mention it, it was very coincidental.

"And your family certainly had enemies," Rachel suddenly said. Leshia's eyes went even wider and she looked back at the article.

"You think?" she gasped. "My mum?" The other two stayed silent, aware of what a powerful moment this must be for their friend. Finally a small smile pulled at her mouth. "You know what, I bet it is!" she suddenly seemed possessed with energy. "We have to find out!" With one last gleeful smile at her friends Leshia looked up to the main table where her father was enjoying a conversation with Professor Larkin, the rather attractive Runes teacher. Leshia could see he wasn't interested in her, but she was practically drooling over him. "We can't tell my dad, not until we're sure."

Over the following days, Leshia watched post owls religiously, waiting for any sign of Leshia's return letter. She considered writing another one, but she was certain this other Leshia would be sending her another. Saturday rolled by quick enough and the girls were happy to be able to relax and enjoy the withering summer days before autumn fell. Rachel let her friends sleep in and at around ten they managed to crawl from bed and change into their own clothes.

"We've got that Snape essay to write," Katie reminded the other two as they wandered down to breakfast.

"Yeah and that essay your dad set us," Rachel added.

"Not to mention all that reading for transfiguration," Leshia finished and they sighed heavily as they took their seats. They ate in a comfortable silence until the post owls flocked around them. Leshia looked up hopefully, but there was nothing for her, so she returned to her breakfast with the typical feeling of disappointment. Both Rachel and Katie had parcels of sweets and letters from home and Leshia couldn't help but feel a little stab of jealousy. After breakfast they headed out to the grounds and splayed out on the warm grass.

"Well well well, if it isn't the little blood-traitors," Cole Ashton's cruel voice came and the girls quickly leapt to their feet.

"What do you want Ashton?" Leshia demanded.

"I want to see you dead!" Ashton sneered. "Or even better, suffering under the cruciatus curse for the rest of your life."

"Well it's not going to happen, so you may as well just get lost," Rachel snapped.

"I'll come to you in a moment Weasley!" Ashton hissed.

"Somebody really should teach you some manners Ashton," a male voice came from behind the girls and they spun around to find all the Weasleys and several of their friends had joined them, by far outweighing the Slytherins. In the distance the on duty teachers were making their way over in case a fight should break out.

"You'd better watch yourself Malfoy," Ashton sneered. "Your big redhead friends won't always be around to protect you!" With that the Slytherins sloped off down the lakeshore.

"Are you lot all right?" Tom asked looking rattled.

"Thanks to you guys," Katie said gratefully.

"Yeah thanks," Leshia said softly. "I really hate those Slytherins." The group fell silent as Professors Flitwick and Sprout walked past them.

"Everything all right?" Sprout asked curiously.

"Yes Professor," the group chorused and they headed away from the lake.

"Come on, let's go and do our homework where the Slytherins can't find us," Katie said and the trio separated from the others.

"What, the library?" Rachel asked cheerily. The other two laughed and continued to mock the intellectual abilities of the Slytherins until they reached their common room. Most people were outside, so the girls quickly commandeered the comfy chairs and spread out their work.

As much as Leshia tried though, she couldn't get her mind to focus on the correct way to focus your mind for transfiguration and she ended up staring into the empty hearth. After a ten-minute daydream involving her mother's miraculous rescue Leshia was knocked back to her senses by a blow to the head.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed in pain and held her hand up to her throbbing head.

"Didn't you hear me yell heads?" a sixth year boy's voice came. "Oh crap I'm sorry, you're bleeding. You'd better get to the hospital wing, here I'll show you!" Leshia climbed gingerly to her feet and then swayed, her eyes clouding over dangerously. She would have fallen into the hearth had the boy who'd assaulted her in the first place not been there to catch her.

"Easy," he said and he lifted her easily from her feet. "You two coming?" he asked her friends and they were on their feet in seconds. The boy carried Leshia easily all the way to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfry was seeing to a boy covered in boils.

"Exploding chess accident," the boy told her sheepishly.

"Oh dear, well lie her down," she said and the boy lowered Leshia onto the bed. Leshia opened her cloudy eyes and winced at the pain in her throbbing head.

"Sorry about that," he said. "Name's Ryan Lofting, if there's anything I can do…"

"No I'm fine," Leshia croaked and she sat up. Ryan looked like he was fighting a battle, to stay and look after the little first year he'd injured (and a teacher's daughter at that!), or to go and finish his exciting and very competitive game with his friend. Leshia saw. " Thanks for bringing me, you should probably get out of her way," she said nodding to Madam Pomfry who was bustling over. Ryan grinned.

"Fair enough," he said and nodded to her. "Take care." With that he headed out feeling sufficiently guilty. Madam Pomfry pointed her wand at the wound and moments later Leshia felt a tingling sensation and the wound was gone. She was then examined for concussion and allowed to go.

" You'll be fine," Madam Pomfry said cheerfully, but then rushed off again as the boy with the boils had just made a large pop and was now covered in feathers. The girls contained their laughter as they rushed out and headed back to their common room. On their way though they were sidetracked by Professor McGonagall who looked at the blood on Leshia's T-shirt.

"What happened to you?" she asked sounding partly firm and also concerned at the same time.

"Little common room accident, Madam Pomfry fixed me right up," Leshia replied cheerfully. McGonagall smiled and nodded.

"Well be more careful the next time," she said and carried on her way down the corridor. Within no time the girls had returned to their common room and after receiving a round of applause from the sixth years Leshia escaped to change with bright red cheeks. Ten minutes later she was back doing her homework, only this time she stayed sat on the ground away from any exploding chess pieces. Concentrating was easier now and by lunchtime they'd finished at least one of their essays.

"I think I aced that one," Rachel was saying as they sat down.

"It was definitely easier than the one dad set," Leshia said as she reached out for the bread rolls. They were happily talking about Lupin and the time they'd seen him transform when Draco appeared behind them.

"You okay?" he asked, his wizened eyes taking in the faint pink line that was all that remained from Leshia's encounter with the chess piece. Leshia smiled and nodded.

"Never better," she said cheerfully. Draco nodded once and walked off, back on his patrolling rounds. From up the table Ryan winked to Leshia, she had evidently not 'told on him' and he respected that. She grinned and turned back to her friends.

"He's the Quidditch captain isn't he?" she asked the other two.

"Yep, looks like you might stand a chance after all, he likes you," Katie said. Leshia frowned.

"He told his friends that you were cool for a first year and nothing like he expected," Rachel enlightened her. Leshia grinned.

"Still doesn't mean anything," she said. "I mean just because he thinks I'm okay that doesn't mean he's going to ignore that everyone will be better than me."

"It would be so cool if you could play for them," Katie said.

"Only problem is I'd have to use a school broom," Leshia said with a sigh. "And they're crap my dad says." They finished lunch on a high note, discussing the new racing broom that was coming out and soon were making their way back to their common room to finish their homework.

XXX

The next day wasn't much different, except the girls got more time to relax as they had finished their homework. They soon discovered why Peeves was so hated after he dive bombed them with water balloons, and then up the corridor discovered why most people wanted to lynch Mrs Norris and her nutcase master Filch, when he punished them and set them scrubbing the corridors they had drenched on their way back to the common room to change. By evening they were most unimpressed and went to bed grumbling about poltergeists and squibs.

The next day they changed and made their way down to breakfast feeling a little groggy, but this atmosphere was soon to change with the arrival of the post owls. Leshia wasn't expecting anything. Having spent all weekend working out how long it would take an owl to get to Mexico and back, she'd rather given up hoping she'd get a letter any time soon. So it came as rather a surprise when an owl dropped down in front of her. She quickly undid the letter and read, while Katie and Rachel peered over her shoulder.

_Dear Leshia,_

_I'm sorry to hear about your mother, that must have been very hard to deal with, what was her name? I've been getting more and more memories lately, words keep resurfacing, faces and places… I think I'm getting my memory back and you're certainly helping. I think I must have known you and your father a long time ago, because I certainly remember the name Draco Malfoy, though I don't know why it instils fear and resentment in me._

_I understand it is hard to spontaneously tell someone about your life. So I have formulated a few questions. When is your birthday? How old is your father? Did he too go to Hogwarts? Does he remember anyone to have gone missing in the last ten years? More to the point do you? It may sound strange…but do you remember the words 'All those fears will come to rest when all else flees to Neversted'. I don't know why, but I wake and dream with these words flying round my head. I can't shake them off._

_You have been more helpful than you know Leshia. Thank you so very much._

_Kind regards Leshia_

Leshia stared at the paper, breathing so loudly that people were turning and staring. Her knuckles had gone white from gripping the page so hard and she looked white as a ghost.

"Leesh?" Katie asked worriedly and she shook Leshia's shoulder.

"Leshia are you okay?" Rachel chimed in. For a few more moments Leshia was transfixed by the letter, until she suddenly blinked and a tear fell from her eye.

"It's my mum," she whispered.

"What?" both Katie and Rachel gasped.

"How can you tell?" Leshia pointed to the sentence where the writer had written the rhyme.

"It's a poem she made up when I was a baby. She used to tell it to me every single night, I remember it so clearly," she managed and brushed angrily at her tears, ashamed to have let them fall. "It really is my mum!" The girls exchanged an amazed look and yet none of them managed to smile, the shock was so great. They had not expected it to really turn out to be Hermione. It had been wishful thinking at most, but now…

" Come on, we're going to be late!" Rachel said noticing most of the other students had left. The trio rushed through the corridors and when they rounded the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor they found it empty.

"Damn!" they cursed in unison and rushed to the door, bursting in to find everyone was seated and Draco was writing something on the board about Werewolves.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor," he said without turning around. "Essays on my desk please." The girls scrambled to unpack their parchments and quickly dropped them on the pile before taking their seats. Finally Draco turned around and for a moment his eyebrow dipped once more in suspicious concern; Leshia was looking as white as a ghost. Something had evidently shaken her. She alone avoided his eyes, her gaze instead drifting past him into some daydream only she could see. Throughout the whole lesson she was uncharacteristically quiet. There was no belligerence or anger in her face, she just continued to look shocked to bits. About half way through the lesson she started frantically scribbling something down on a piece of parchment.

"Miss Malfoy would you please stop that and pay attention?" Draco admonished her. Leshia however, did not heed him and continued to write as though possessed. "Miss Malfoy! Stop that!" Only now did Leshia look up and her face looked shadowy and possessed. " What are you writing? Bring it here?" She shook her head and clutched the parchment close to her chest. Katie and Rachel looked to her with scared expressions. "You will bring it here or you can get out and you will have detention all day on Saturday." Leshia took her choice immediately and instantly climbed to her feet, her chair scraping against the ground the only sound breaking the surprised silence in the room. She headed for the door while Draco watched her, chewing on the inside of his mouth impatiently. "You really won't show me?" Leshia paused at the door and shook her head boldly. "Out," he said angrily and returned to the class. Leshia didn't need telling twice and she ran up the corridor, straight to her common room. The sixth and seventh years on break looked surprised to see her, but she rushed up to the dormitory and continued to write.

_Leshia,_

_I was born on the 16th of November, my father is 31 and I think you know he studied at Hogwarts. I think you also know that of course I remember those words, you sang them to me every single day for the first six and a half years of my life. Don't you know who you are? You're name is Hermione! You're my mum!_

_You have to remember! You have to come back!_

_Please respond as fast as you can!_

_Love Leshia_

_P.S. If you don't believe me, then try this, I bet you showed up on (or around) the 15th of August five years ago didn't you?_

With the letter firmly in her hand she walked over to the window and hung out. An owl instantly flew to her outstretched arm and Leshia tied the letter hastily to its leg.

"Bring this to Herm… Leshia Westcoast at the Americas Institute in Mexico," she said hastily. The owl hooted and took off, leaving two sharp pains in Leshia's arm where it's talons had dug in to take flight, but Leshia didn't care. Her mother was alive as she had always known, and now she was going to bring her home.

She certainly did care when later that evening over dinner she received a very ominous look from her father and a message appeared on her plate (obviously carefully placed by Tally) that read:

_My office. After dinner_

"He's so mad at me," she groaned and served herself some rice. "And that's not the worst, how on earth am I going to keep mum a secret! He was an auror, he scared death-eaters and werewolves into confessing about Voldemort…how can I compete with that?"

"Why would you?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, why can't you just tell him?" Katie added. Leshia sighed.

"I don't want him to get his hopes up…I mean, it nearly killed him when she disappeared and I don't want him thinking she's coming home the same as she was, because I don't even know if she's going to get her memory back…ever!" Leshia explained.

"But maybe he could help?" Katie said. "I mean she was obviously obliterated wasn't she? Well maybe he could help undo the spell damage."

"Yeah him, or Dumbledore," Rachel suggested. Leshia sighed.

"She's remembering things already. I bet if we wait a while, she'll remember everything and want to come back and we'll be a family again," she said.

"If Snape's in his office you'll want to be careful," Katie warned her. "My dad told me that he's really good at Legilimency, you know, where they can read your thoughts." Leshia furrowed her brow.

"He'd never…" But as she looked back to Draco she found he was still giving her an unreadable look and she began to worry. Dinner went surprisingly quickly and soon Leshia found herself unwillingly trudging the route to her father's office. She knocked softly and was surprised and worried when the door swung open and Draco stood with his arms crossed in the entrance, partly blocking the way. He didn't say anything and Leshia hung her head and pushed past him into the office. Thankfully it was empty and after a brief look into the bedroom just off from the office she found that empty too (should Snape be hiding in there ready to read her thoughts through the wall). Leshia sat down by the desk on one of the wooden chairs and waited, but Draco never came, he simply stood by the now closed door watching her, assuming the same stance as before.

"You're mad," Leshia said sounding faraway.

"Damn right I'm mad," Draco retorted, but he didn't sound mad, he sounded amused. Leshia furrowed her brow and shrugged.

"You wouldn't understand dad," she said after a while.

"And you're not going to tell me are you?" Draco replied. Leshia looked him in the eye dolefully and shook her head.

"Not yet anyway, not until I'm certain…" she trailed off and looked away again. Draco's expression turned even more amused and he finally sat down, but not at the desk, instead he dropped down on the sofa. Leshia remained frozen to her seat, but her posture relaxed. Draco wasn't really that mad, he had been annoyed in class when she flat out disobeyed him, but she was being punished for that. He knew it was pointless to continue to punish her and assumed she had a good reason for behaving so out of line.

"So what am I going to be doing on Saturday?" Leshia finally asked, sensing her father was back to normal.

"Whatever Severus wants you to do," he said with a twinkle in his eye. Leshia's jaw dropped dramatically.

"Snape?" she demanded.

"Professor Snape Leshia," Draco admonished. Leshia furrowed her brow.

"Why can't I have detention with you?" she asked sounding petulant.

"Because we both know that I'd be too soft on you," he said cheerfully. "I'm hardly the world's best disciplinarian!" This was certainly true, he was possibly the world's worst disciplinarian. Hermione had always dealt with that…

"Yeah but he hates me," Leshia grumbled. "He'll probably send me into the forbidden forest to collect mushrooms or something."

"He won't," Draco laughed genially. Leshia gave him a pointed look.

"He sent you!" she countered.

"I was with the others and with Hagrid and that great big dog of his, we were fine," he said. "What makes you think he hates you?"

"He called me a know-it-all like mum," she said sounding put out. Draco smiled fondly at her.

"She was a know-it-all," he chuckled. "He wouldn't dare hate you."

"Well he's not very nice," Leshia grumbled.

"Neither am I if you hadn't noticed," Draco countered and he finally got to his feet and walked over to his daughter, ruffling her hair on his way past to his desk chair. "You'd better get going, I have your essays to mark," he said as he pulled out the pile of parchments. Leshia's was still on top from earlier. The girl glanced nervously at it, suddenly fearing what her father would think of it, had she worked hard enough on it? Draco saw her looking and smiled charmingly at her.

"No going back now little one," he said cheerfully and took out a quill and some red ink. "Well go on then, I can't mark them with you hanging about." Leshia smiled meekly and got to her feet, before she headed towards the door.

"Hey, where's my goodnight kiss then?" Draco asked. "Or do you want me to go back on the Tally agreement?" Leshia quickly ran over to him and embraced him tighter than normal. Draco returned the hug feeling surprised. "Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked eventually sounding concerned. Leshia nodded into his shoulder.

"Yeah," she replied and straightened up again, kissing his cheek. "Goodnight dad." With this she left leaving Draco feeling curious, what was wrong with her?

XXX

The week crawled by and soon Saturday was upon them. Leshia woke before her friends, she 'd been summoned to Snape's office at 8AM and was told to wear old clothes. So she changed into some baggy jeans, an old polo shirt and some old boots, before tying her hair up in a ponytail and leaving as quietly as she could. The castle was empty, save for some over-zealous students heading for the library and the usual sleepless castle ghosts.

"You're up early Malfoy," Ryan's voice came from behind her just before she reached stairs going down into the dungeons. He was taking down the notice about tryouts to register the names on there.

"Detention," Leshia said with a shrug.

"Snape?" Ryan asked with a wince when he saw where she was heading. Leshia grinned and nodded.

"My dad's idea of a joke," she said with a shrug.

"So you coming tomorrow?" he asked glancing down the list. Leshia nodded with a shrug.

"Only problem is we have to use the school brooms," she said softly.

"Oh don't worry about it, you can borrow mine during tryouts. I told you I owed you one didn't I?" Leshia beamed at him.

"Thanks!" she said and then looked at the time. "I'll see you tomorrow then!"

"Good luck with Snape," Ryan chuckled as he headed back to the common room. Leshia hurried on and soon knocked on Snape's door.

"Enter," his creepy voice came. Leshia shuddered, but pushed it open. Snape's office was dreary and dingy.

"Ah Malfoy, late I see?" Snape sneered. Leshia furrowed her brow.

"Not by much," she complained and stayed half in, half out of the office.

"We shall we going out to the base of the forest where I shall instruct you on what you shall be collecting," he said and Leshia's jaw nearly dropped at her foresight in this occasion. It was a good thing they were still enjoying their Indian summer, because Leshia was not given the option of returning for her cloak. On their way out Snape picked up two buckets and led Leshia all the way out into the pleasant morning air. The journey to the edge of the forest was a long one and yet they didn't speak. Soon they reached the trees and walked a little way in to the gloom. Snape then continued to instruct her on what she ought to be picking and then left her to it saying he would send someone to empty the buckets every once in a while. Once he had retreated Leshia kicked one of the buckets angrily.

"Crappy Snape," she grumbled and dropped to her knees in the soil, picking through the undergrowth. "We should have a trouble strike and then the teachers would have to do their own dirty work!" She worked for hours until children started to come out to enjoy the weather. By about twelve Leshia's stomach was grumbling, so it was a good thing that Katie and Rachel came to find her bearing bread and cheese.

"What has he got you doing?" Rachel asked and she wrinkled her nose at the buckets (which had already been emptied three timed).

"Elf work," Leshia complained as she dug into her sandwich greedily.

"It's not really safe to be alone in the forest is it?" Katie asked anxiously looking into the gloom.

"You wouldn't think so, but hey," Leshia said with a shrug. Her friends didn't stay long as Snape came to check on her and told them she was to have no visitors and she was to get on with her job. By four in the afternoon Leshia was feeling venomous and every time someone was sent to get the buckets, she looked close to smacking them. It was at four that Draco ambled down the gardens and found her sitting on a fallen tree log trying to smash a husk open with her trowel. She had mud smears all over her face and her clothes were filthy.

"Easy," Draco laughed as he sat down beside her and took the husk from her. He pointed his wand at it, silently made an incantation causing it to split open and as he did so thousands of slivery silky seeds poured out. Leshia quickly collected them in a bucket full of such seeds and then sighed heavily.

"Dad I'm tired," she groaned. Draco smiled charmingly at her.

"I think you've done enough," he said kindly. "Come back with me, we'll have a word with him."

"I told you he'd have me in the forest picking mushrooms. Didn't I tell you?" Leshia exclaimed indignantly. "And now I'm behind on my homework, because I have tryouts tomorrow remember?" Draco smiled and nodded.

"Of course I remember, its all kids have been going on about all week," he said.

"You're not coming to watch are you?" Leshia asked and she leaned back against a branch sticking out of the stump. Draco shrugged.

"I might pop along for a minute…"

"You can't!" Leshia quickly said and she sat forward again scratching an itch on her cheek. "I'm nervous enough as it is."

"Okay, I won't come then," Draco chuckled and he quickly reached out and batted a caterpillar off Leshia's shoulder. "You need a bath." Leshia looked down at herself and nodded. "Come on, let's go tell Severus you're done for the day."

"What if he complains?" Leshia asked getting to her feet and taking one bucket while Draco took the other.

"I gave you detention, I can take it away," he said. "Besides, you've been at this all day, it's too much." They headed back to the castle in a tired silence and slowly made their way down to the dungeons. It was Draco that knocked on the door before pushing it open to find Snape pouring over some ancient text.

"I think she's had enough for the day," Draco said in a no-nonsense tone as he took Leshia's bucket and put them both down on the floor. Snape looked reluctant, but nodded all the same.

"Very well," he said.

"You go on," Draco told Leshia, who didn't need telling twice and quickly escaped the office. She went straight for the Gryffindor washrooms and had a long and gratifying shower. After changing into some cleaner clothes she made her way down to the common room and found Katie and Rachel were playing wizard chess.

"Hi Leesh," they greeted her happily.

"Did that loony finally let you go?" Rachel asked before making a pained expression as Katie took her queen.

"Yeah," Leshia sighed and she dropped down in the spare seat beside them. " I have to do those two essays for Flitwick and Tinreed if I'm going to have a free day tomorrow."

"Hadn't you better get started then?" Katie said distantly as she concentrated on the game. Leshia sighed again, but went to get her satchel anyway. Moments later she was back in the window box with her _First Year Charms_ book open in front of her and her empty parchment stretching out across the ledge.

XXX

The following day Leshia woke up at dawn feeling incredibly nervous. She paced the room with Philly chasing a threat hanging from her trousers for almost an hour before the others woke from their slumber. They all changed in silence and headed down to breakfast. The last thing Leshia was expecting was an owl to drop down in front of her with a single envelope.

"Oh no, not today," Leshia gasped and she quickly took the letter and opened it. Only a few words jumped out at her.

_Do you still look like me?_

"That's it?" Leshia demanded feeling like she wanted to sob. "I open my heart to her and that's all she can write?" Her voice cracked and she shook her head angrily.

"Leesh turn it over!" Katie suddenly exclaimed in surprise. Leshia furrowed her brow and did as she was told. In an instant an old muggle photograph of herself jumped out at her. It was ragged and torn and looked like the colour had faded in lines by being stroked by delicate fingers over the years, but it was definitely a six-year-old Leshia, beaming at the camera as her muggle 'Aunt' took her picture.

"She kept it all these years," Rachel said and Leshia and Katie spun around and saw their normally bold friend was on the verge of tears. "It's so sweet!"

"Leesh we have to tell your dad, this is proof!" Katie said firmly. Leshia furrowed her brow and looked up to see Draco had not yet come down to breakfast. Now she felt afraid. How could she tell her father that his wife was still alive? It ought to have been the most easiest sentence in the world: 'Dad, mum's not dead, she's just been teaching at some institute in Mexico for the last five years unaware that she has a family, but now she remembers us.' But Leshia couldn't do that…she had to plan it more tactfully than that. She owed him that much.

XXX

As they headed onto the grand quidditch pitch Leshia felt her nerves pinching. Something in her heart was fluttering as she saw the older children who were trying out.

"You'll be fine Leesh," Katie said comfortingly as she and Rachel headed for the stands.

"Don't fall off," Rachel added cheerfully and this at least wrangled a smile from young Leshia.

"Morning Malfoy," Ryan said cheerfully and he handed out a broom to her. It was a Firebolt 350, a very able broom. Leshia grinned.

"Thanks," she said and watched anxiously as the current hopeful was warming up.

"Right now we're all here," Ryan called to the group. "Everyone will receive three trials at catching the snitch, this will be followed by an aerial obstacle course to ascertain your flying skills and then we'll see how fast you can go by racing against Gemma here. Okay, any questions?"

"Yeah," a burly fifth year boy said. "Surely we can't race fairly, some people have better brooms."

"You'll all be racing my broom at that point, as you'll see, Mila has the same model," he said. The fifth year nodded and looked satisfied.

"Good, let's begin," Ryan said and he looked to the first hopeful. "When you're ready Josalynn." With this he let the snitch go that he held in his hand and watched as Josalynn Jones took to the sky. They were timing her.

Josalynn did quite well, as did three others. Most of the others did appallingly in comparison and then finally it was Leshia's turn. She nodded and watched as the Snitch sped off. Soon she was in the air and doing what came naturally to her. She'd always been a very able flyer and had excellent eyesight, matched with quick reflexes. Within seconds she had spotted the snitch and she darted after it, dodging this way and that, honing in on it. Below people watched on impressed. Finally she did a clever move and she grabbed it out of the air. Katie and Rachel cheered insanely. Her following trials were just as spectacular and fast as her first. By the end Ryan didn't feel the need for further trials, but decided he ought to anyway. So they did the aerial competence and speed tests. Leshia aced them all to more cheers from below – quite a crowd had gathered now. As she touched down the others sloped off without confirmation of their fears. Ryan was grinning at Leshia and by now the rest of the team had assembled.

"Team, meet our new seeker," he said with a big grin.

XXX

Her triumph was short lived, as Leshia knew what lay ahead of her. Draco had kept to his word, but news travelled fast, and by the time Leshia came knocking at his door he was beaming at her.

"I heard, well done!" he said with a big grin. "What have you got there?" he asked pointing to the letters in Leshia's hand. Leshia sighed and sat down opposite him at the desk.

"Dad…I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Try me," Draco said sounding calm as though anything Leshia could throw at him would be more than fine. His assurance was slightly reassuring, but Leshia knew he never dreamed this would ever happen.

"Look at this," she said showing him the picture of herself that she had received that very morning. At first Draco smiled when he saw it, it brought back fond memories, but then something dawned on him.

"Where did you get this?" he asked in a hoarse whisper. He recognised the picture from Hermione's purse, she had always carried it round everywhere she went.

"Someone sent it to me," she replied truthfully.

"Who?" Her father seemed desperate, hungry for information and there was fear and suffering in his eyes too.

"Mum." It took a while for the anger to register on Draco's face, but materialise it did.

"Alecia Malfoy…" he began in a booming tone.

"Turn it over!" Leshia exclaimed passionately. Draco narrowed his eyes at Leshia, before tearing them away and looking down at the photograph's back. He instantly recognised the handwriting and the realisation caused a small agonised sound to escape his throat.

"Let me see those," he ordered and he held out his hand roughly for the letters. Leshia quickly handed them to him and watched as his eyes skimmed the pages, turning slightly glassy as he did so. " Hermione," he finally whispered.

"Dad?" Leshia uttered sounding frightened. Draco silently held out his arm to her his eyes not leaving the pages and she rushed round the desk and clung to his side. The young girl began to shake, so Draco quickly tightened his grip around her and kissed the side of her head.

"I have to go and find her," he finally said, sounding gentler now. Leshia closed her eyes seeming pained.

"I know," she managed sadly.

"You're going to have to stay here."

"I know that too…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now remember what I said, it only gets better


	2. Part Two

Thank you for the reviews. You are all very kind! Word of warning (for any young readers) for this chapter, got one swearword and dark undertones – I know it's pathetic to give you the heads up :) but hey, I'm a teacher's daughter, goody-toe-shoes by nature…hehe yeah right. Ah well, enjoy.

**Part II**

Draco stayed away two weeks and in this time he never made contact with Leshia once. Leshia began to fear he too would never come back, but finally one morning over breakfast he was present at the teachers' table once more. Without shame or hesitation Leshia marched right up him.

" Where is she?" she asked and every pair of eyes in the great hall turned to look at her. Draco smiled and rolled his eyes before getting to his feet and walking out of the teacher's entrance. Leshia quickly followed.

" I've seen your mother," he said. Leshia's eyes went so wide Draco was momentarily afraid that they would roll straight out of her head.

" Well where is she?" she asked urgently.

" Not here obviously," Draco said sounding amused. " She's not ready to come back. I tried, but she won't come. She's still coming to terms with her memories. She barely remembers me, but all she seems to remember is the bad times before I changed…" Leshia furrowed her brow angrily.

" She remembers me!" she said spitefully.

" Yes she does, but not as well as you think…she's disconnected sweetheart, not really with it," he explains. " She needs time…"

" But I need her now," Leshia complained and she was ashamed to feel tears stinging her eyes.

" She told me to give you this," he said handing her a letter. Leshia didn't take it, instead she stared angrily at the floor. " I know this is hard on you…"

" No you don't!" Leshia snapped and she took the letter. " You've seen her. And then you stay away without writing to me, not once. I didn't even know if _you_ were coming back!" With this she stormed off down the corridor, not caring that she was marching through teachers' common rooms and private chambers. Finally she found a door that led back to the main corridors and she found a way outside into the grounds. Only when she reached a comfortingly sheltered tree did she sit down and tear the letter open.

_To my dear Leshia,_

_I know this will be hard for you to understand, but you must try. Thank you for finding me. Thank you for shedding light on the jumble of memories that are swimming round my head. Thank you for getting me through these last five years. I couldn't have done it without the comforting knowledge that somewhere, somehow I was needed and missed._

_I've cherished that picture for years. It gets me through the hard days. I'm glad Draco has brought me some more recent ones, because I can't manage without your comforting smile every day. I've always known you were mine. I couldn't explain it, maybe it's the fact that you have my smile, and my eyes that made me see it, but I doubt it. We have a connection that can never be broken my dear little girl. _

_You must hate me for staying away, but I cannot return knowing I cannot properly be there for you while I still flounder. When I return, and I do mean when little one, I will be the mother you remember and I will be the wife your father loves and misses so much. I need to get in touch with my past. I need you to be patient with me._

_I'm sorry if I've hurt you and worried you. I will return. I will get our lives back on track. _

_Thinking of you every day._

_Look after yourself and your father_

_Love from your mum, Hermione_

Leshia reread the letter several times, and then lay back against the tree. She didn't care that she was missing potions. Snape was going to have to punish her later. After an hour the cold started to take it's toll and Leshia got to her feet and headed back to the castle. Once inside she made her way to her next lesson, Charms, and felt oddly calm. She could wait if that's what Hermione wanted.

XXX

As the end of the day drew by Leshia ran into Draco outside History of Magic. She smiled at him with a roll of her eyes that let him know he was forgiven. As they passed one and other he ruffled her hair and let her get on with her day. Two weeks absence had meant his own work had piled up and he had some catching up to do. By dinner Leshia was feeling oddly relaxed. She was in fact quite excited about the quidditch game coming up in a few weeks that Gryffindor was set to win. As she started to chew on her chicken though the mood changed as she felt something sharp hit her in the back of the neck. She spun around and saw Allseyer waltzing past his wand twirling round his fingers. Leshia quickly felt her neck and found her fingers touched on a piece of parchment. She grabbed it and read:

_Blood-traitor. Astronomy tower, midnight. It's time you paid your pound of flesh._

Leshia scowled at the parchment and spun around catching Damian's eye. With a cool nod she agreed to his threat.

" Leesh did you just agree to this?" Katie demanded sounding outraged.

" Yeah it's a trap, can't you tell?" Rachel added sounding calmer and slightly incredulous. Leshia shrugged.

" If he wants a fight, he's going to get one," she said simply.

" But what if you get hurt?" Rachel countered sounding put out, knowing already that she was going to have to follow her leader into this mess.

" Or worse caught and expelled?" Katie added.

" They don't expel you for sleepwalking do they?" Leshia countered with a grin.

" As if anyone's going to believe you're in the astronomy tower sleepwalking," Katie countered.

" I want to see what he wants," Leshia said simply. " I mean come on, don't you?" This got them and they fell silent.

" If we're caught we're dead," Rachel said with a small smile.

" Well then, let's hope we don't get caught!"

XXX

This proved to be harder than it seemed. Getting out of the common room proved to be the hardest part, as the fat lady upon seeing three students out of bed started making terrible a racket, which soon caught the attention of Peeves, who gleefully chased the 'ickle first years' until they managed to shake him off by diving into an open wardrobe.

" Is he gone?" Katie whispered. She was quickly "shhhhhd" by the others and for a moment all that broke the silence was hurried breathing.

" I think it's probably safe now," Leshia whispered and she pushed the creaky door open, cringing at the squeaking noise as it broke the silence. A quick glance up and down the deserted corridor revealed that they were in fact alone, and feeling heartened by this Leshia stepped out. Katie and Rachel practically stumbled out as they fought each other over who went next – neither wanting to be left last in the dark wardrobe that smelled suspiciously like troll. After a severe glare from Leshia to keep quiet they headed off again, padding along in their socks, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Several times on their journey to the tower they had to dive for cover, just barely missing the eye of the patrolling teachers. At one point Leshia got the horrible feeling she'd spotted her father's telltale swagger in the distance, and she hoped very much that she was mistaken and that he was tucked up in bed across the castle beside his office, because if he was on the prowl, their chances of a successful sneak out were severely diminished. He had always been awfully good at sensing when trouble was afoot and catching it out in the act.

At five to twelve the girls finally found the base of the spiral staircase leading up to the astronomy tower and Katie suddenly reached out and grabbed Leshia's arm.

" What?" Leshia whispered hoarsely in the darkness. " No turning back now!"

" No it's just…" Katie began and she trailed off looking as though she was fighting an internal battle. After a moment's hesitation, in which Leshia and Rachel got thoroughly impatient, it seemed she'd made up her mind. " My…" she began, but suddenly her voice caught in her chest and her eyes went wide. Her friends quickly spun around and saw that Mrs Norris was staring directly at them.

" No," Leshia hissed. " Here kitty kitty," she tried, but in response the cat made a loud 'meow'. In the distance hurried footsteps sounded. Leshia spun around reaching for the doorknob only to find it was locked.

" What are we going to do?" she whispered frantically, but suddenly everything turned misty and she felt something soft and silky touch her skin. " What the…"

" Shhh! It's my dad's invincibility cloak!" Katie admonished.

" You had an invincibility cloak all this time and you had us hiding in cupboards?" Rachel asked sounding incredulous.

" Shhh! My dad told me only to use it in emergencies…" She trailed off as Filch suddenly rounded the corner. He slowed down upon entering the empty corridor and walked to within inches of the girls.

" What is it my pet?" he asked his cat in a sickly tone that made the girls want to snigger. The caretaker sniffed the air, his large nostrils vibrating. " No students out here." With that he headed up the corridor, silently pacing as though there may still be the chance of finding students out of bed.

Moments later, his watchfulness paid off as three hulking figures and one slighter built one rounded the corner in complete competence.

" Students out of bed!" Filch yelled at the top of his voice. The figures froze and the girls craned their necks to see that Allseyer and his cronies Violet Pazz, Archie Dregon and Harry Stump were staring with silent fury at the caretaker. They looked for a moment like they were going to start running, but then two more figures prowled up the corridor behind them: Snape and McGonagall.

" Going for a midnight stroll were we?" Snape asked the children with an ever so slight amused note to his voice.

" This is not amusing Severus, I hope you see to it that they are punished accordingly," McGonagall said sternly. Snape gave her a slightly withering expression and nodded.

" Of course," he said graciously.

" Where's the fire?" another voice came from the other end of the corridor. Leshia and her friends, though already terrified and stock still, froze even more than their already still postures allowed them and turned ever so slightly under the cover of their cloak to see Draco ambling up the corridor with an amused expression. He came to a halt right beside the girls, oblivious to their presence.

" You may ease your punishment if you tell us of any others that are out of bed," Snape ordered. Allseyer, convinced he's been set up didn't hesitate in answering.

" We were told to meet here at midnight," he said angrily.

" By whom?" McGonagall quickly asked.

" Potter, Weasley and that _Malfoy_ girl," he spat.

" And you believed them?" Snape asked sounding disappointed. The other teachers too, didn't seem to believe the girls were up as they had all come from separate directions and had not come across them. Only Draco frowned and glanced about with a curious expression on his handsome face. The girls huddled even closer together as his gaze passed over their hiding place.

" Well I will have words with them in the morning," McGonagall said sharply. " Now come on, back to bed!" With this the corridor started to empty as everyone headed back the way they came. Only Draco remained absolutely still, as though he would be able to sense the girls' presence. After ten minutes of his silent reverie he turned around and headed back the way he came. The girls crumpled silently in relief, but then froze once more when Draco stopped, looked over his shoulder in their direction and smiled charmingly, before going on his way again.

XXX

For half and hour the girls didn't dare move, and then with the difficulty of the cumbersome cloak they shuffled back to Gryffindor tower. It took them twice as long as before, but finally after awaking a very grumpy fat lady, they uttered the password and scrambled in. As soon as they reached the common room they threw off the cloak and stared at each other with wide eyes.

" I told you!"

" Your dad knows."

" Since when have you had this cloak?" They all spoke at once. With an extremely exasperated sigh Katie stormed off to the dormitory leaving Rachel and Leshia glancing amusedly at one and other.

" We're dead in the morning mate," Rachel said softly. Leshia inhaled slowly and nodded.

" Pretty much, he thinks we set him up."

" Defence Against the Dark arts first thing tomorrow," Rachel continued. " Let's hope your dad isn't a Legilimenz like he seems!" With this the two girls headed silently up to their beds.

XXX

The next morning Katie was furious with Leshia for talking her into a harebrained scheme like that and waltzed off to breakfast without the other two. Rachel and Leshia changed in an amicable silence and headed after her ten minutes later.

" Too bad she's ignoring us, she needs to tell us more about that great cloak," Rachel said cheerily. Leshia snorted with laughter and nodded.

" That cloak is the least of our worries," she said and yawned heavily. " You were right about my dad. He did know we were there…I don't know what he's going to do about it."

" Let's hope he's feeling guilty about running off and doesn't do anything," Rachel said as they walked into the great hall. They quickly joined Katie's side, who 'hmphd' as they arrived and continued to ignore them as they ate in a tired silence. It was not prudent on Leshia's part to be yawning massively as McGonagall crept up behind her.

" A word girls," she said sternly. Glancing anxiously at each other the girls obeyed and climbed to their feet. Leshia quickly met Draco's eye before following McGonagall out and he was smiling darkly at her as though saying 'You had it coming'. McGonagall didn't speak until they reached the relatively empty entrance hall.

" Last night we caught Damian Allseyer and his friends out of bed on the eight floor corridor, he claims you told him to meet him there," she said sounding very stern indeed. Leshia feigned a very convincing surprised expression.

" Really?" she uttered.

" Are you telling me that you did not arrange to meet him or any other children at midnight?" the Head of House continued sounding softer now, as though believing the story.

" No Professor," Rachel said in an equally convincing tone.

" Why would we want to see Allseyer, he's not very nice to us," Leshia explained with large doleful eyes. McGonagall smiled kindly at her. _Hook._

" Don't worry Miss Malfoy." _Line._ " We didn't believe him." _And sinker_. Leshia smiled back feigning a comforted expression and Rachel and Katie quickly followed suit. " You may go to your lesson now."

" Thank you professor," the girls chorused and they rushed off. Their relief of not being in trouble was short lived as soon they reached the DADA corridor where a pack of angry looking Slytherins were waiting for them.

" Malfoy!" Allseyer yelled with such angry conviction in his tone that Leshia felt some of her bravado disintegrate. " You set us up! You chickened out and then tipped Filch off!"

" No we didn't," Leshia said calmly – much calmer than she felt – as they came face to face with the Slytherins. " We heard noise and didn't dare come any closer," she lied.

" Yeah right, the teachers would have found you," Allseyer countered angrily.

" Look…" Leshia began, but at this point the door to the classroom swung open and Draco appeared looking from one child to the next with an unreadable expression. Leshia and her friends quickly darted into line.

" Shirts," Draco exclaimed angrily and a few children frantically tucked in their offending shirts, then with a pleasant smile Draco stepped back allowing the children passage into the classroom. They quickly took their usual seats and waited while Draco moved to the front of the classroom and picked up a stack of papers.

" Your essays," he said in a triumphant tone. " I apologise for my delay in handing them back to you, but I've been otherwise…" His eyes glanced briefly to Leshia. " Detained." With this he let them go and they flew from his hands until they reached their rightful owners. Leshia glanced down at the 'O' on her parchment and felt a stab of pride. She glanced down to the end where she instantly recognised her father's jagged script. He had simply written:

_Know-it-all_

With a small grin Leshia pushed her essay under her books so as not to gloat to her friends who had both received Es and looked up to see Draco was writing on the board about Werewolves.

" Silence," he ordered as chatter broke out over the marks and he turned around with an unreadable expression. " Silence," he repeated. " Now, I understand that in my absence Professor Sinistra continued with my planned lessons on Werewolves am I correct?"

" Yes Professor Malfoy," a chorus of voices came.

" Good, well then, we can skip on to the highlight of the term," he said with a smile and he walked over to the door of the classroom. Everyone's eyes followed him with renewed interest and those who were paying attention a few weeks ago suddenly reeled with excitement when they realised what their teacher was doing. Soon Draco reached the door and he pulled it open revealing a tall gangly man with wild hair and a drawn face. An expression of amusement adorned the ageing attractive face of Remus Lupin and he stepped inside the classroom with a nod to Draco. " Children, this is Remus Lupin," Draco told the class as he stepped aside and allowed Remus to take centre stage at the front of he class. " He is, as I am sure you have all guessed by now, a werewolf and has come here to give us a true and personal account of what it is like to live with this affliction."

" Thank you professor," Lupin said with a nod to Draco, and then he turned to the children, briefly winking to the three girls he'd seen grow up over the years. " I'm not what you expected am I?" Several children shook their heads and the old werewolf smiled, before leaning back against the desk that had once been his, and retold his life story.

By the end of the lesson the children were reeling with excitement. This was soon dampened slightly by Draco announcing they had reached the end of 'werewolves' and were to be tested upon it in a week's time, but as most of the class filed out they were chattering about full moons and sharp teeth. Leshia, Katie and Rachel remained behind, and once all the children had left they rushed forward and embraced Lupin in unison.

" Easy now," he said stroking each of their heads. " I'm getting old," he chuckled.

" You're not old!" Katie assured him.

" Yeah," the other two chimed in. Lupin laughed fondly as they separated and he got a good look at them.

" Goodness you've all grown," he said genially.

" Not Leshia," Draco's fond tone came. " You've given up on growing haven't you sweetheart?" Lupin laughed as Leshia gave her father a playful glare.

" You're going to be late for your next lesson, you'd better get going," he said as he heard the hustle and bustle of the students waiting outside. " I'm going to be here all week, we'll see each other again," he assured them. " Go on," he laughed when the girls didn't seem any closer to moving on.

" Move it," Draco's sterner tone came. " I've got a class to teach and you three have been treading very thin ice lately anyway." This got the girls moving and they scarpered before Draco could punish them for being out of bed.

XXX

Allseyer's anger didn't diminish over the next few days and by the weekend he was positively spitting with anger every time he and the girls passed in the corridor or in class. He seemed to rally the whole of Slytherin around him, which didn't bode well for Sunday's quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. At the final training before the game Leshia confided this fear in Ryan.

" Cole Ashton is on that team, I just know they're going to try something," she finished after a carefully put explanation of everything that had happened. Ryan smiled charmingly and shook his head.

" You've got nothing to worry about Malfoy, Luke and Tom have got your back," he said. " And the rest of us will watch out for you too." Leshia smiled genuinely and nodded her thanks.

" I just don't want my first match to be a disaster," she said truthfully.

" Don't worry, fly like you did today and you'll more than handle anything they throw at you," Ryan said comfortingly and he patted her on the back. Leshia reminded him of his little sister and ever since she'd made the team he'd been watching out for her.

On her way to back to the common room Leshia was waylaid by Katie and Rachel, who were chattering on about some girl fancying Tom. They were nearly at the castle when they suddenly fell into shadow. Spinning round expecting the worst the children were pleasantly surprised.

" Hagrid!" they cheered.

" 'Allo you lot, 'aven't seen you around very much. When yer parents were at school they'd come visit every once in a while, see how thing's were going," he said. The girls smiled sheepishly – in their endless discussions about coming to school they had intended on visiting Hagrid every weekend. " I remember one time when your dad Ron and your mum…" Hagrid fell silent and looked away, seemingly ashamed of this mention of Hermione. Leshia frowned deeply, surely he knew? Surely she'd taken the time to tell him? But then it dawned on her, no one knew! She hadn't told anyone and Katie and Rachel had been too discreet to tell their parents.

" Hagrid don't you know?" Leshia suddenly exclaimed. Hagrid shook his head with a frown. " My mum, well…she's alive." Hagrid took a moment to react, but eventually he shook his head.

" What?" he managed quietly. Leshia's cheeks burned ashamedly.

" We found out a few weeks ago," she began and explained the whole thing. By the end of it Hagrid looked stunned, but then finally a large tear trickled over his red cheek and landed on his grizzly beard.

" 'Ermione! Alive!" he cried and he bent down and swept Leshia up into a huge bear hug. He spoke some more words, but they were lost to his sobs of happiness. Leshia began to fear that she would never escape.

" Hagrid?" Draco's curious voice came and in a moment Hagrid had dropped Leshia and pulled a rather surprised looking Draco into his arms.

" I'm jus' so happy!" Hagrid managed through his tears.

" Hagrid now really, let me go," Draco complained and he sounded mortified to be wrapped up in the half giants arms. Behind the girls a man started chuckling. It was an odd guttural sound that made their neck hairs stand on end. Leshia didn't need to turn around with her friends to know that Snape was standing there. Finally Draco managed to pry the half-giant's arms free and he stumbled backwards nearly tripping over Rachel on his bid for freedom. After wiping down his front agitatedly Draco looked questioningly to Leshia.

" I told him about mum," she said softly. Draco raised his head in a half nod as though everything had just fallen into place before looking back at Hagrid.

" Is she 'ere?" Hagrid asked eagerly.

" Come Hagrid, I feel I must explain," Draco said and he led Hagrid away, winking at the girls before they turned and hurried back to the common room.

" You should write home and tell them," Leshia told her friends as they entered the castle. Katie and Rachel beamed at each other, they had been wanting to do so for a while, but had respected Leshia's feelings too much to do so without consent.

Half an hour later and Katie and Rachel were sprawled on their fronts in front of the fire chewing on quills, trying to think of how best to put what they had discovered. Leshia sat alone in the window box watching as rain started to beat down on the window with an empty piece of parchment in her hand. She wasn't sure of what to write. She wasn't sure what she wanted to tell her mother. Those angry emotions were still so close to the surface, that if she were to start writing about how she felt, she would come across as cruel and petulant.

" Write about something else then," she told herself softly and she looked down at her page:

_Dear…_

The quill hovered above the page as Leshia thought of Hermione's letter. It had been so personal, so motherly.

_Dear mum,_

_When I was three you showed me how to use a wand. When I was four you took me into Muggle London and showed me what it was like to live without magic. Even when I was scared you held my hand and got me through it. When I was five you took on two death-eaters on your own to protect me. And when I was six you fell off a broom – I don't think it was on purpose – in an effort to try and stop me from following dad into the dangerous world of quidditch._

_A few weeks ago I made the quidditch team. I'm the new Gryffindor seeker and tomorrow is our first match. I'm very nervous, but I'm using that trick you taught me when I was five, you know, imagining how happy I'll be when it's all over? The whole school is going to be watching, and dad will be there too. He always makes me nervous when I play! It's raining now, that's not good news. Does it rain very often where you are? Do you miss it?_

_I have a kitten, he's called Philly. He's definitely not like the pictures you showed me of Crookshanks, he's too cute. Everyone loves him and even though they like to kick us off the cosy chairs, he always gets the best seat in the common room!_

_Hagrid, you must remember Hagrid, he's too big to miss, well he hugged dad today because he was so happy you're alive. Dad was so embarrassed! You should come back…maybe just for a visit and see everyone. People will be so happy you're okay, they really will!_

_Sleep good things will come to you, dream bad things and I will too…_

Leshia paused and stared at the line she had just written. The whole aim of her letter had been to stir Hermione's memories, and that last line had juts slipped out. It was the first sentence of Hermione's Rhyme. If anything, that rhyme ought to stir emotions in her mother Leshia felt, because more than anything, it brought tears to her eyes.

_I'm angry with you for not coming home. The more I think about it the more angry I get, but I still want to see you. Get your memory back soon!_

_Love Leshia_

Satisfied that the letter served it's purpose Leshia rolled it up and put it in her satchel. As she opened the flap three half finished essays glared out at her and with a resentful sigh she pulled out the top one, 'Three reasons why running away from a Vampire will save my life'.

XXX

By the following morning the three essays lay unfinished and Leshia had bitten all of her nails down to the cuticles. She was so nervous that she woke earlier than anyone else and raced down to breakfast. No one else had sat down for breakfast yet, not even the staff, and Leshia felt positively alone as she nibbled on a piece of toast while staring out the high windows at the rain. She didn't remain alone for long as the door behind the teachers' table swung open and none other than Draco stepped out carrying a long parcel under his arm.

" I thought you'd be here," he said softly, his voice echoing around the empty hall. Leshia shrugged as Draco came to sit next to her. The parcel instantly caught her attention and she looked from it to her father questioningly. " Oh this? It's for you." Leshia frowned and with crummy fingers she reached over and pulled back the top of the brown paper revealing neatly preened broom twigs. The look on her face brought a smile to Draco's, she hadn't looked this excited in a long time.

" Is it really mine?" she asked sounding beside herself. Draco nodded proudly. " But I didn't think first years were allowed brooms."

" Well apparently they make exceptions for exceptional first years," he said with a smile. " I can always take it back if you'd rather…"

" No!" Leshia cried out and grinned sheepishly at her outburst. " What is it?"

" Oh," Draco said nonchalantly. " The Flash eight thousand…" What he hadn't expected was for his daughter to suddenly throw her arms around his neck so tightly her hug resembled Hagrid's. " I take it that's the right choice?"

" It's the best choice!" Leshia said gleefully and, completely forgetting her meagre attempt at breakfast, tore the paper away from the broom and stared hungrily at its slightly sparkling appearance. " It's amazing," she whispered. Pleased with himself Draco got to his feet and stroked her hair into place.

" Good luck little one," he said. " And…" Leshia looked up at the concern in his tone. " Just be careful." He seemed as worried as she was, so she quickly nodded and smiled reassuringly.

" I will dad," she promised. Draco nodded slowly and headed back to the main table where Snape had materialised as if from nowhere – Leshia had certainly not noticed him creeping in. Feeling heartened by the wondrous gift, Leshia returned to the food with a confident smile on her face.

'Bring it on Slytherin,' she thought fiercely.

XXX

An hour later Leshia, now changed into her quidditch robes, made her way with the rest of the team to the changing room where Ryan talked 'tactics'. The roar of the other students waiting in the stands was tantalising and Leshia now just wanted to get out there and try out her new broom (which every single person she had come across had admired in wonder). Finally Ryan led the Gryffindor team through to a wall of sound and Leshia almost cowered away from it. There was colour everywhere, red, blue, green, yellow. Hisses and boos, and cheers and chants filled the air, and somewhere up in the stands Katie and Rachel were yelling themselves hoarse for Gryffindor.

The team took to the centre of the field and waited while Ryan shook Tobias Dregon's hand. As soon as the whistle was blown Leshia mounted her broom and kicked off. She certainly rose quicker than any other on the pitch and soon found herself drifting several dozen feet above the rest of the team. At these heights the winds were much more powerful and already Leshia's ears began to protest against the weather. She'd not been up there two minutes when suddenly a bludger came tearing towards her. She dodged it gracefully and rose even higher, her eyes darting about keenly for signs of the snitch.

She wasn't alone.

" Well well well," a familiar snide voice rose over the howl of the wind. Leshia spun around to find Ashton floating a few feet away. " The little blood-traitor's all alone. Not even daddy can save you up here." Tired of his attitude and aware that he was a distraction Leshia rose several dozen feet higher. Somewhere down below someone scored, but Leshia didn't pay it any attention.

Unfortunately Ashton followed.

" You can't run," he jeered and suddenly made a lightning quick pass at the girl, which she narrowly avoided by dropping several feet suddenly. " You can't hide!" Ashton yelled after her and followed. " We're going to get you!" He was relentless and within no time Leshia was diving, spiralling and dodging simply to avoid him. Ashton seemed possessed and no attempt (no matter how hair razing) shook him off. The crowds, for the most part, were confused.

" Have they seen the snitch or what?" Martin Lahara of Ravenclaw, Hogwarts' regular quidditch commentator, finally asked sounding extremely put out. This tiring chase continued for half an hour, until finally Leshia's eyes locked onto something gold and fluttery. In an instant she chased after it. Ashton, now aware of what she was doing, fought to keep up with her. The girl was much faster, being lighter, more able and on a better broom, but she soon ran into trouble when two bludgers came flying her way. She dodged them, but this took precious time and within no time Ashton had pulled ahead. Not one to give up so easily Leshia quickly sped up. Ashton's fingertips were nearly upon the snitch, when all of a sudden from beneath him a small red clad arm came between him and the snitch and took it from his reach.

" No!" he yelled as the roar of the crowds rose up around them. " Pancer, Reeves!" the boy called to his beaters. Leshia wasn't aware of the opposition, her only thoughts were that she had claimed victory for her team. Later she would regret losing track of the moment, but all she remembered at the time was crashing into two very solid objects.

Witnesses to the awful crash would later attest to seeing the girl flip over the two Slytherin Beaters who suddenly rose in front of her, only to tumble to the ground, coming a cropper two bludgers on the way down. Luckily Tom Weasley caught her midair inches from the ground, but at this point she was unconscious from a bludger to the head and was unable to contemplate how close she came to oblivion. The new Flash 8000 was rescued by a concerned team mate.

Down on the field Ryan was yelling at the referee for justice.

" They did that on purpose, the game was over!" he cried out indignantly, as teachers came spilling onto the field. Draco was amongst them and yet he held back as McGonagall crouched down at Leshia's side, her expert eye taking in the torrent of blood that was running down the girl's face.

" Hospital wing," she said firmly and raised Leshia from the ground with a levitation charm. " Potter, Weasley, come along!" she called to the two girls who were racing along the field calling out Leshia's name. Draco lingered behind his shadowy eyes taking in the silhouettes of Pancer, Reeves and Ashton further up the field and for a moment he felt his blood boil. They would pay later, he would see to it.

XXX

" Only a cracked skull, not to worry Draco, she's fine now," a voice cut through Leshia's unpleasant dream.

" But there was so much blood," Draco's voice came, sounding quite concerned.

" She'll be all right, ah look now, she's waking up." Leshia forced her eyes open against the painful light and saw three concerned faces fill her line of sight.

" Leesh are you okay?" Katie asked sounding terrified. It hurt to nod, Leshia decided as she tried it.

" I'll be fine," she managed. " What happened?" Rachel and Katie burst into a detailed explanation of what had happened, and afterwards Leshia concluded that it must have looked worse than it felt.

" But we won right?" she asked anxiously.

" Three hundred and thirty to one hundred," Rachel replied proudly.

" My broom?" Leshia suddenly exclaimed and she tried to sit up, but as she did so, hundreds of little stabs of pain shot down her side.

" Don't try to move," Draco said firmly. " Your body needs some time to recover."

" But I thought I got hit on the head, why does my side hurt?" Leshia grumbled and she rubbed her aching ribs.

" You were struck by two bludgers if you remember?" Draco said. " The other cracked a couple of ribs." Leshia sighed heavily and shook her head.

" Damn Slytherins. When I get my hands on Cole Ashton…"

" You will do nothing," Draco interrupted sounding stern and he got started pacing, a definite edge to his posture. He looked furious. Three disgruntled expressions turned on him, but his resolve didn't weaken. " I mean it, you leave them to us."

" Well you look like you'll do him more damage than I will," Leshia complained petulantly and she wasn't wrong, if she were those Slytherin boys she'd be fearing for her life right now. Draco gave her a dark look.

" I'm not going to lay a finger on him," he said with a mean glint in his eye. " I have to go," he suddenly excused himself and headed for the door.

" Dad don't do anything stupid!" Leshia called after him, but he was gone. With an incredibly exasperated sigh Leshia leaned back on her pillows and shook her head. " He's going to do something stupid isn't he?"

For half an hour Leshia was bed bound, but as time went on movement became easier and she was finally discharged. Katie and Rachel dragged her away to the common room, preventing her from going down and giving the Slytherins a piece of her mind. They could hear the party going on in the common room even from behind the fat lady. Leshia grinned meekly and felt a little embarrassed about going in

" I've suddenly remembered, I have to go to the library," she said unconvincingly.

" Come on!" Rachel laughed as the painting swung open and they dragged her in. Her entrance was instantly met with tumultuous applause. There was no escaping the crowds, who were eager to congratulate the little seeker.

Ten minutes later the three girls were tucked up on the cosy sofa drinking a wonderful tasting concoction they were informed was stolen butterbeer from the pantry of a pub down in Hogsmead.

" You know, there's advantages to you falling off your broom and being knocked out," Rachel said appreciatively as she slouched back on the sofa. Leshia grinned darkly at her.

" Let's just get one thing straight, I did not fall," she laughed, but then fell slightly silent, her mind wandering across the castle to wherever Draco was plotting his revenge. " I wonder what he'll do," she said softly.

" What your dad?" Rachel asked. " You think it'll be bad?"

" Well just look at it this way, he gave me a miserable punishment, and I'm his own daughter, imagine what he'll be like with those guys from now on. My life just got a lot worse I think," she explained glumly, but her heart wasn't in it. It was hard to feel gloomy sitting in the lively common room surrounded by friends and laughter.

XXX

As the weeks dragged on the weather grew colder and colder until finally towards the end of October the first of the winter's snow started falling, turning the castle into a picturesque winter wonderland as though from Christmas card. The first of the winter's snow also brought with it the first of the winter birthdays.

" Happy Birthday!" two jubilant voices cut through Katie's sleep. She opened her eyes to slits and found two fuzzy faces beaming at her. After scrabbling for her glasses the faces became clearer, but no less jubilant.

" Thanks," she managed and sat up with an almighty yawn. As she did so her eyes fell on a massive pile of presents at the end of her bed and without another word she dived on them bustling the other two off the bed. What followed was a series of cheers and grumbles (when she saw the half eaten chocolate frog box her brother had sent along with an old sock). Rachel and Leshia left their friend to it and retreated to the window to look out at the snow. A frown adorned Leshia's brow.

" I'm sure it'll come today," Rachel said instantly, when she saw her friend's concern. Leshia sighed deeply and shook her head.

" It's been weeks Rach, she would have written back by now don't you think?" she said softly, fear lacing her voice. Rachel remained silent, it was true, Hermione would have replied by now to Leshia's letters. And there had been many letters, since Draco's return Leshia had sent at least eight of them, pleading for a response.

" Maybe you should try writing to the Americas institute again?" Rachel suggested. Leshia sighed.

" They told me they're not allowed to disclose information on their staff members."

" Well look at it this way, your dad's not worried," Rachel said changing tack.

" That's because she told him not to contact her until she could remember everything, she still thinks he's the bad guy he was at school remember? He thinks she's gone backwards again and is forgetting and that's why she's not writing!" There was such pain in Leshia's face that Rachel didn't dare discuss the topic any further.

" Come on, let's go and get breakfast, we're going to need it with that trek through the forest that Hagrid has planned," she said instead and squeezed Leshia's shoulders comfortingly.

" Yeah," Leshia agreed softly and she tore her eyes from the bleak weather to find that Katie was now dressed and looking longingly at a new book her mother had sent.

" Come on bookworm, you can read that later," Rachel ordered fondly and she dragged her two reluctant friends out of the common room and down to the great hall. As soon as Katie touched down on the bench the Weasleys and several of their friends burst into a merry version of 'Happy birthday'. Rachel and Leshia joined in, the latter less enthusiastically. By the end of the song, most of the table had joined in and all the other children in the great hall were watching them amusedly. Katie's cheeks glowed bright red as she uttered a muffle thanks and tucked into her breakfast.

" Can you believe that they're holding Halloween dance on Thursday and we're not invited?" Nicola's voice came before she dropped down beside the other girls, with Ashley trailing her helplessly. Their fellow Gryffindor first years frowned their brows in unison and turned questioningly on her.

" Since when?" Rachel asked.

" Yeah and who cares, it's just a stupid dance," Leshia added with a stale look.

" We care," Nicola continued. " They're going to announce it today, and only fourth years and up are allowed to go," she grumbled looking across the table to Parys who she ogled with no shame.

" That is kinda unfair, what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Katie asked with a frown.

" Yeah," Rachel added hotly. What followed was a tirade on how unfair the situation was, that only ended when Leshia slammed her hand down on the table and rolled her eyes so exasperatedly that they nearly disappeared inside her skull.

" Look," she said forcefully, and the other girls fell silent instantly. " If it bothers you that much we'll throw our own party." Four smiles crept onto the faces of her friends and Leshia was happy for a moment's peace.

" That is the single most amazing idea you have ever had," Rachel said slowly, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

" Well good," Leshia sighed heavily. " Now can we talk about something else?" If it had been her plan to shut them up with her idea, it had failed, because now all they could twitter on about was their party and soon half the table (those under fourth year naturally) were immersed in the conversation.

" So it's agreed, you three are in charge of collecting food," Amy told the three girls. Katie and Rachel looked thrilled at the prospect of having such an important job, but Leshia didn't have it in her to feel excited.

" We should use the cloak," Rachel said in an undertone once Amy had drawn everyone's attention by delegating more tasks (with Leshia wondering 'who put her in charge?'). Katie gave Rachel an urgent look as if to say 'not-here', which her cousin flat-out ignored. " That way we'll easily be able to sneak into the…" For a moment the flamboyant redhead stopped speaking and stared in wonder at Katie who was trying her very best to act nonchalant, but who looked like any minute now she could blow her top. " Okay fine, I won't mention the invis… Ouw!" Under normal circumstances the young Weasley probably would have exploded at Katie for hitting her, but it was Leshia's laughter that stopped her. They hadn't heard her laugh so loudly in weeks, so with a reserved shrug Rachel returned to her breakfast, thinking she would get Katie back later.

The entertainment at breakfast time served to put Leshia back in a somewhat normal mood again and as the girls headed out to Care of Magical Creatures she joining in with their conversation on the best way to sneak into the kitchen.

" Maybe you can use Tally's help," Rachel suggested as they waited outside Hagrid's hut along with a few other children from their class. Leshia shook her head quickly.

" Tally doesn't answer to me, the last five years would have been a lot more fun if that were the case," she said with a roll of her eyes. " No, we have to try and stay as far out of her way as possible. She'll go tell my dad straight away and I'm not sure how he'd react."

" I don't think he'd mind that much," Rachel said with a shrug.

" Yeah, he'd probably want to come," Katie added. Leshia grinned and shook her head.

" You guys have got him all wrong you know," she said cheerfully. " I mean sure, he's chilled out and everything, but when it comes to serious rule breaking he's more strict than McGonagall." Her friends shook their heads in fond disbelief.

" Well we have to figure out what we're going to do, we don't have long," Katie said. The other two furrowed their brows and what followed was three days of intensive scheming. By Wednesday (the night of the heist) they were on tenterhooks and every time they were caught out in lessons discussing their plans they would jump like startled rabbits caught in the high beam. Only Draco found their behaviour peculiar and called for them to stay behind after the lesson. The girls shared a foreboding look and each and every one of them tried their very best not to think about their plans in case Draco was the Legilimenz he seemed to be. It was the last lesson of the day, which allowed Draco the time to straighten out his desk and drag out the silence, which was making the girls even more nervous – exactly his plan.

" Right," he finally said and he leant against his desk crossing his arms across his chest looking from one guilty face to the next. " Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to ask Severus for some truth potion?" Katie and Rachel looked aghast, but only Leshia frowned, trying to work out if he was treating them as a teacher, or as her dad. Finally she picked the latter.

" You can't do that," she complained. Draco narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully.

" You're right I can't as a teacher, but there's no law that says you can't administer truth potion to your own child. In fact thirty years ago the minister of magic was well known for…"

" Okay dad we get it," Leshia interrupted dryly. " Even so, I'm a pupil here and you're a teacher, so you can't just pick and choose who you're going to be to suit your needs." To her surprise Draco burst out laughing.

" You do," he chuckled, but nodded, knowing of course that she was right. The girls remained absolutely still, almost staring beyond him with the concentration of keeping their party off their minds. It was hopeless, they were too good at it and Draco had no rights to keep them when for all pretences, they hadn't done anything wrong, 'yet' Draco thought silently. " Okay you can go," he said with a sigh, the girls made to leave. " But let me tell you," he said as they hovered inches above their chairs, too frightened to move. " If I catch you doing anything you shouldn't, then you'll be getting detention every weekend until Christmas." The girls didn't need telling twice and they rushed out. Only Leshia turned at the door and shook her head at Draco with an amused expression. He suppressed a grin, seeing she didn't believe his bluff, before swatting his hand at her, and then she was gone.

" I see what you mean," Katie whispered as they rushed down the corridor. Leshia grinned.

" He was just kidding," she said. " Besides, he has no idea what we're planning and with that cloak of yours it'll be really hard for him to catch us out. He'll be up though tonight, so if possible, try to keep your mind off things. Don't think."

" Easier for some than others," Katie said with a nod in Rachel's direction.

" Katie!" Rachel exploded flamboyantly and she chased her raven-haired cousin all the way back to Gryffindor tower, missing out on Leshia's rapturous laughter that echoed round the corridors. Only Draco heard and for a moment it brought a smile to his face before he went about trying to scrub 'Professor Malfoy is fit' off not one, but five of the benches. What had these children used? Everlast Ink?

XXX

Dinner was a lively affair as everyone's spirits were high; fourth years and over full of anticipation and excitement for their dance, and third years and under full of anticipation and excitement for their party. Only Leshia, Katie and Rachel felt trepidation and anxiety, as they fretted over the big heist. Dinner flew by and as soon as they got back to Gryffindor tower Leshia set their plan in motion.

" Here goes," she said and she looked around blankly. " Tally?" she asked the thin air. Having always been living in fear of the bossy houseelf Leshia had never felt the desire to summon the short little madam, but needs must and all that. Amazingly, it worked, and after a pop that startled (though they had been expecting it) the Gryffindor girls, Tally appeared looking ready for service.

" Yes?" she asked, her large boggling eyes putting Leshia off slightly, she'd already forgotten how uneasy she felt under that wide-eyed gaze.

" Tally," Leshia said firmly, pushing her unease to the side and reaching over to pick up a veritable mountain of clothes that needed darning, mending, sewing, re-hemming, re-buttoning, and any other mutilations the girls in Gryffindor had been able to come up with to keep the houseelf busy. Together they had pooled their clothes, and, not knowing how long the houseelf took to mend things, had hoped they had enough to keep her busy all night long. " I have some things for you to mend." Tally looked to the clothes and her eyes went impossibly wider.

" Miss Malfoy doesn't own so many clothes," Tally said sounding bewildered. Leshia looked to the others with a 'what do I do, I wasn't expecting this?' look that thankfully the houseelf missed because she was picking through the ravaged clothes.

" Leshia's quite popular Tally," Rachel butted in, coming to the rescue. Katie instantly knew where her cousin was going with this.

" Yeah, she gets presents all the time."

" And hand-me-downs," Leshia added hopefully, noting that most of the clothes were so large her tiny body would look lost in them – why on earth had Clariss Beetham contributed to the pot, she was six foot five! " I'm yet to grow into them," she continued and then frowned as a sleeve, long enough to serve as three sleeves for Leshia's arm length, dangled from the pile. 'Damn it Clariss!', she thought angrily, but Tally had lost her surprised look and was now surveying the clothes as though mentally beginning her task.

" Very well," she said and with a crackle and a flash she disappeared. Leshia stared at the space she had juts vacated and shook her head in disbelief.

" Man she's losing it," she said and then grinned. With newfound confidence she looked up to see her friends were beaming at her.

" Well you'd better hope that your plan works," Ashley finally spoke up and looked a bit put out. " I can't bear the thought of all that clothicide for nothing."

" Relax," Leshia chuckled and she dropped down beside Rachel on her bed. " Stage one is successfully complete!"

XXX

Stage two of operation Kitchen Heist went by surprisingly problem-free. All it required was waiting for everyone to go to bed so the girls could carry out their invisibility raid curiosity free. The last thing they needed now was for everyone to find out about Katie's cloak. Once the common room had emptied enough the girls enlisted Ashley and Nicola to open the portrait door and feign a visit to the hospital wing with induced vomiting (with a little help from a special stash of Rachel's Weasleys' Wizarding magical skiving sweets). It took a long time to convince them that it was necessary, because should anyone be lurking outside – say Draco, eager to catch them, then it would be a bit weird that the portrait opened and no one came out. Also, if there did happen to be a teacher around – say Draco, waiting to punish them till Christmas time, then he would be obligated to help them to the hospital wing. It was foolproof, but deciding who ought to take the vomit sweet was not as easy as it had seemed on paper. In the end it was Nicola who took the plunge (after being promised more than her fair share of the bounty) and the plan went off without a hitch.

As it happened, a teacher did transpire to be venturing by the Gryffindor common room at this time, but it wasn't Draco, who was lurking in the bowels of the castle, no, it was McGonagall. She, as planned, helped the girls away enabling the other three to scarper under their cloak. It seemed a shame that Draco was still at large, ready to catch them out, but as Leshia told her friends, one less teacher to worry about couldn't possibly be considered a bad thing.

It took the girls a long time to make it to the kitchens, as they were overly cautious and hampered by the three large sacks they were carrying with them to be filled with luscious food. Finally they reached the large painting that hid the kitchens and after thoroughly checking the corridor for signs of teachers…or evil cats and caretakers, Leshia dared to stick her arm out from under the safety of the cloak and tickle the pear that would grant them access to the kitchens. Their information was correct ('Of course it's going to work,' Sarah had told them indignantly, 'our dads swear by it and they know every secret of the school!') and soon the painting swung forward revealing a bustling kitchen behind. The delicious smells wafted out to them and after quickly shuffling in they dropped the cloak and revealed themselves to the curious houselves.

" Uh…hello," Leshia managed, and looked firmly to Katie, who was the only one who could swing this part of the plan for them.

" Um," Katie began looking from one puzzled green face to the next. " Dobby?" she finally asked the nearest one. It squeaked in surprise and shook its head, pointing to an elf that was wearing odd socks and a peculiar ensemble of ties.

" I am Dobby," he said and came forward. He didn't say any more, his expression was questioning enough. How did she know his name?

" I'm Katie," Katie said and after seeing this made no difference to the elves' expressions she added, " Katie Potter." Dobby's beetle-black eyes went wide and the girls could have sworn they saw tears welling up in them and they looked sidelong at one and other with smirking expressions, trying to contain their bewildered laughter.

" Are you a relation to the great Harry Potter?" he asked eagerly.

" Yes, he's my dad." And that was that. No further pleasantries were required. The elves practically stumbled over one and other to offer them food and drink, without even being asked and after filling up their burlap sacks with as much as they could manage they were surprised to find two heavily filled bags being airlifted (by a hundred little elf hands) to their feet, bursting with Halloween-styled sweets and pastries. They had to flat out refuse the pumpkin cake being thrust upon them and when Dobby tried to bring them a barrel of Butterbeer Katie had to cross her arms and firmly address the elf with, " Now really Dobby, you're going too far we have enough!"

Several thankyous later and the girls were stood in the empty hall, surrounded by delicious smelling food and with a cloak that barely covered them all.

" This is ridiculous," Rachel finally spluttered turning on Leshia with an accusatory glare.

" What are we supposed to do?" Katie added worriedly. " We didn't know there's be so much." Leshia furrowed her brow and thought.

" Well we can't carry it all, we'd end up taking all night and tomorrow none of us would be able to stand straight," she said and bit her lip for inspiration and then with a shrug of her shoulders she pointed her wand at the nearest bags and said, " _Leviosa_." The bags started to rise and she turned to her friends with a smile. " Go on, this should be easy, we can fit all of us under the cloak and we won't have to break our backs trying." The girls grinned and soon they were on their way.

The plan would have gone off without a hitch if, after coming to a clumsy halt a stone's throw from Gryffindor tower, because in the distance Leshia caught sight of her father's unmistakable silhouette, an apple had not fallen from one of the overflowing bags alerting their presence to Mrs Norris who'd been following her nose for some time now.

'Meow!' the loud cry pierced the halls.

" Leshia!" Rachel hissed sounding angry, but Leshia stood routed to the spot, in the distance the Draco-silhouette was slowly turning round and staring right at them.

" Think blank thoughts," she quickly ordered and for sixty panicked seconds all of them squeezed their eyes shut and desperately tried to clear their minds. The silhouette still stood still, staring at the cat in the distance, until finally it turned around slowly once more and walked off again.

It was a further five minutes later that Leshia dared to open her eyes finding the figure at end of the hall gone.

" That was close," she managed.

'Meow!' the squawk came again and the wretched animal started approaching them, continuing her call like a homing beacon.

" Leesh do something," Katie whispered frantically. So Leshia did.

" Wicked!"

" Leshia!" Both Rachel and Katie hissed respectively as the caramel apple Leshia had lobbed glanced off Mrs Norris' head knocking the cat out cold. Her mangy furred chest still rose and fall signifying that the blow had not been a fatal one and for a moment Leshia felt relief.

Distant footsteps soon brought it crashing down again.

" Hurry!" she cried and without caution they set off at a run, their levitation charms dragging their bounty with them.

" Trolls breath!" they cried at the painting and with a severe put out look the fat lady swung open and the girls dove inside dragging the bags with them. No sooner had they shut the portrait door when Filch's wails filled the corridor.

" Mrs Norris!" his cry went up and still fearing punishment the girls hurried up the stairs, taking their prizes with them. Ashley and Nicola were waiting in their bedroom and as soon as they walked in, they fell on the girls with praise and relief.

" We thought you'd been caught!" Ashley dithered.

" Yeah you've been so long," Nicola cut in, her eyes taking in the stacks of goodies. " But you did a great job!" The girls exchanged a relieved look as they collapsed on their beds, hearts still racing from their fabulously successful first heist.

" I'm telling you," Katie breathed out. " I am never letting you drag me on one of your crazy adventures again!"

XXX

The following day news of the assault on Mrs Norris (who had apparently recovered but was suffering from ensuing migraines) had spread like wildfire before breakfast and everyone was in agreement that it was absolute best news they'd heard all week. Leshia, Katie and Rachel kept low profiles as they sat down at the table, nodding with everyone else about how fabulous it was that the old wretched beast had finally got what she deserved. They didn't need to look to know that they were being watched from the head table. It was almost as though they could feel Draco's eyes boring into the backs of their heads. What they couldn't know was that he was not alone in watching their every move.

Unusual for a Hogwarts breakfast, Dumbledore climbed to his feet to make an announcement. Everyone went silent and stared at him, expecting more news on the fantastic appling of the school's most hated cat.

" Students," he said looking down at them all magnanimously. " Last night, something dreadful happened. One, or several members of this school took it upon themselves to cross the line and…" Leshia hung her head slightly shamefully, hearing it put so from the mouth of someone she greatly respected was awful. " Broke into one of our classrooms, stealing a very precious heirloom." Leshia's head popped up again like a jack-in-the-box and she stared at the headmaster in surprise. " I cannot tell you what it is, as this might alarm several of you. In the hands of the wrong people it can do terrible wrongs." Leshia's frown intensified and she stared at the headmaster firmly." If any of you know who may have carried out such a grievous misdeed, then I beg of you to come forward."

For a split second Leshia caught her father's eye and he was staring at her so severely she almost jumped. They held eye contact for a long time, and through narrowed eyes, Leshia could see he wasn't pleased with her.

'He thinks I did it,' she suddenly realised in surprise. After glaring back at her father Leshia looked back to Dumbledore defiantly. 'How dare he! As if…'

" On a much lighter note, I am pleased to tell you that Mrs Norris is recovering from the head injury she sustained last night." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he looked briefly to the Gryffindor girls. " It would seem some of you need reminding that throwing balls to catch is a dogs' game." Leshia suppressed a smile and waited until the headmaster was seated again before looking to her friends.

" Is he still looking at me?" she asked, anger lacing her normally mischievously happy voice.

" Who?" Rachel asked through a mouth full of pancake. " Dumbledore?"

" No my dad."

" Yeah…" Leshia looked to her friends who were looking at Draco with frightened faces.

" Leesh he looks almost mean," Katie explained worriedly.

" He thinks I stole that whatever thing that was stolen last night," Leshia cut in bitterly. " I can't believe he thinks I'm nothing but a thief."

" But Leesh…" Rachel began, her mind drifting back to the burlap bags full of loot under their beds, but she never got to voice her 'but you are a thief' as suddenly a foot stamped down on her toes accompanied by an urgent look from Katie, so she staved her comment and made a mental note to have a serious word with Katie over constantly beating her. At this rate she wasn't going to make it to Christmas time without coming out covered in bruises.

" Well we've got defence against the dark arts first thing," Katie said wearily. " You're not going to throw another hissy fit are you, because I mean think about it. It's not surprising that he thinks its you." Now it was Rachel's turn to do the stamping, and she took pleasure in stamping hard on Katie's foot. " Ouw!" her cousin objected. " I'm not being disloyal, I'm on your side, but just think about it. He knew we were planning something yesterday, he probably sensed us last night, because you knew it was him at the end of the corridor and I couldn't even see a person, let alone make out who it was…"

" That's because you're blind as a bat," Rachel sang gleefully.

" Anyway," Katie continued silencing Rachel with a glare. " You two must have some weird psychic link, because if you knew he was there then he probably knew we were there." Leshia sighed and rubbed her temples.

" Just because we're up and about past curfew doesn't mean we're off around the castle looting priceless heirlooms," Leshia countered, but then she suddenly suppressed a grin.

" Picturing it aren't you?" Rachel said with a satisfied grin that showed she too was picturing a clichéd burglar-style raid where all of them were kitted out in stripes and balaclavas tiptoeing along the corridors. Leshia nodded and smiled properly, her thundercloud temporarily raining on someone else's parade for now.

" Go easy on him Leesh," Katie said, looking up to see Draco still staring unwaveringly at them all. " He is your dad after all."

" And I mean look what he got up to in school," Rachel added, pulling her foot away before Katie could stamp on it – not caring she was treading on 'don't go there' topics. Leshia nodded.

" Someday, he's going to have to realise that I'm not him," she sighed and got to her feet as the first bell rang. Rachel and Katie looked to each other with a look that read, 'And someday she's going to have to realise that she very nearly is'.

XXX

" Letter for you sir," Leshia said pointedly as she walked in the DADA classroom. She dropped the scribbled parchment down on her father's desk and held his suspicious gaze for a few moments before flouncing off to her desk.

" Thank you," Draco said softly before turning to the rest of the class. As though sensing his dangerous mood they were unusually subdued and even refrained from a united 'awwww' when he announced they would be carrying out a surprise quiz for the first half an hour of their lesson. As they got underway with their quiz he sat down behind his desk and glanced at the scribbled note.

_Professor Malfoy_

_I didn't do it. I did…something else._

_Please believe me._

Furrowing his brow Draco looked up from the scrap to see his daughter had her head down and was concentrating like everyone else. He didn't have it in him to be suspicious any longer, he'd spent all night dreading the worst.

A priceless and dangerous artefact had been stolen and he'd sensed Leshia up and about. The thought that she was slipping down the dark path that had held him for so many years had kept him up most of the night and now this… At this moment Leshia looked up and her brow creased for a split second in hopeful concern. There was no lie in her eyes. So after inhaling slowly, a small whisper of a smile briefly graced Draco's handsome face, which seemed to still Leshia's concerns enough to allow her to finish her test.

Pleasant relief flowed through Draco's mind for a brief moment, only to be replaced with worry once more. If not Leshia (who alone of her peers possessed a modicum of evil ingenious), then who? Who had known to steal that exact artefact and what on earth were they planning on doing with it?

XXX

The rest of the day flew by as everyone eagerly awaited the evenings' festivities, whether they be official or home-wrought. But come the evening did, and after fussing over what to wear – granted, Leshia did the least of the fussing and only exclaimed an angry curse when she realised she'd thoughtlessly trashed the only garment that effectively made her look taller in the Tally-incident – the girls hurried downstairs and laid out the food on the tables that Luke, Tom and their friends had magicked as though from nowhere. People were already milling around and their eyes went wide at the sight of all he food.

It didn't take long for the streamers and the music to appear and before anyone knew what was going on, they had a heaving beast of a party to enjoy. As it happened, it wasn't only the Gryffindors who were enjoying the party of a lifetime. Unable to keep their great secret a secret, several (if not most) of the Gryffindors had spread word to their out-house friends and after leading them on, had eventually invited them. It seemed that everyone in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw who'd been below fourth year (and even several who were over fourth year and not much in the mood for dances) had showed up and cramming everyone into the lively common room was turning out to test everyone's magic skills.

" This is awesome!" Leshia yelled over the noise of some third years singing. The looks on Katie and Rachel's faces gave their feelings away and for a moment all the worries over Hermione and the troublesome start to the year washed away.

" Look there's a Slytherin," Katie gaped and she pointed over to the other side of the common room where indeed, one of the not-quite-so-horrible Slytherins was talking to a Hufflepuff girl.

" Should have put up a sign, no snakes allowed," Rachel sneered.

" Easy," Leshia laughed and dived out of the way of a mad Ravenclaw's dance moves. Laughing fit to burst they fought their way through to one of the window boxes and squeezed in, looking over the snowy landscape.

" I bet they're not having this much fun down in the hall," Katie mused and the others nodded fervently.

" Totally not, I bet they're all standing on separate ends of the hall staring at each other's feet," Leshia exclaimed gleefully – happy to get one over on the man…whoever that was. It sounded good and she'd heard it on a muggle television programme once. Katie and Rachel giggled at the prospect and looked out over the common room. As they did so they were alarmed to find Amy and Sarah surging through the crowd towards them.

" Uh oh," they chimed. Amy had an eerily determined look on her face and Sarah was wielding burlap bags.

" We've run out of food you've got to get more," Amy pleaded once she reached them. Leshia rolled her eyes exasperatedly and shook her head.

" Please Leesh," Sarah begged, knowing that to get the other two on side, they had to sway the el capitano of the group. For twenty minutes they begged, expressing how this party was all down to them and that if they made it a hit, it would go down in Hogwarts history as their doing. In the end, appealing to their vanity was a huge success and ten minutes later the girls were treading the old route down to the kitchen clutching at itchy burlap bags.

" Stupid out-housers eating all the grub," Rachel grumbled and they all slowed down when they passed the exuberant music coming from the hall.

" Let's go have a look," Katie suggested eagerly and Rachel instantly agreed.

" Come on Leesh," she urged when Leshia wasn't moving. She followed her friend's gaze to a small out-of-the-way staircase that seemed to lead to nowhere they'd ever needed to visit and frowned.

" What is it?" Katie asked, catching the same vibe.

" I'm not sure," Leshia finally responded and she threw off the cloak, loading off her bags on the others.

" Leshia!" Katie and Rachel hissed in unison, but Leshia was heading for the stairs.

" There's no one around, don't worry. You go peep and I'll check this out, we'll meet back here," she ordered and carried on. Not wanting to miss out on an internal gloating session Rachel and Katie rushed off to the great hall while Leshia carefully soldiered on.

She couldn't describe why she felt she had to check out the stairs, she just…did. So with a pounding heart she started to descend, hearing voices. One distressed and the other murmuring. What was going on. The lower she climbed the softer the voices got until finally they stopped altogether as Leshia's feet touched the slate flooring of the dungeon floors. Nothing lay in front of her and feeling putout she turned to go, but something made her turn around and look into the gloom and then she saw him…and her.

Words escaped her mouth and she simply stared in horror as Professor Larkin and _her_ father struggled against each other locked in a steamy embrace. Feeling sick to her stomach with eyes watering Leshia wretched silently and ran off down the dungeon corridor, a silent sob wracking her chest painfully. They hadn't noticed her presence.

XXX

" What are you doing?" Draco demanded as he drunkenly pushed the woman away and backed up against the wall, his eyes watering from the dark and the ale. Larkin stared at him and shook her head in confusion.

" I'm kissing you," she said sounding amazed and she stepped forward for a repeat performance. Draco grabbed her wrists and pushed her away.

" Well don't," he said dangerously.

" But I thought that's what you wanted…" Larkin began sounding petulant. Draco stared at her open-mouthed, his vision blurring.

" I've been pouring my heart out to you about my _wife_," he cried out angrily, accusingly. " How the hell does that sound like a pick up line to you? God!" He threw his hands up against his face and hid away Larkin's sour look.

" Stop being such a child Draco. Hermione is gone, she's not coming back, and the more you blindly wish for it to happen the more you're screwing yours and your daughter's chances up for a normal life," Larkin accused bitterly as she headed towards the stairs. Angrily Draco ripped his hands away and for a moment Larkin stumbled under the look he was giving her. Anger radiated from every pore and there was an extremely mean glint in his eye.

" Never _ever_ presume to know anything about me, my wife or my child," he said in exaggerated tones. For a moment he looked terrifying in all his wrath, but then his face crumpled slightly and he turned from Larkin giving her leave to go. And go she did, her shoes clattering up the stairs as she fought to get away leaving Draco crouched down with his hands behind his head, squeezing his eyes shut lest the tears he'd never let fall finally spill out.

XXX

Leshia ran and ran, not knowing where the winding corridors were taking her, not caring why she could hear echoing footsteps following. Finally she came to a halt and she realised in alarm that she had no idea where she was…and that she wasn't alone.

" Well well well," a snide and familiar voice came from behind. " Caught me a little blood traitor have I?" Leshia turned slowly to find Cole Ashton standing alone in the corridor behind her.

" I'm warning you Ashton," Leshia hissed angrily. " Don't make me hurt you." This bravado was not for show alone. The anger and hurt Leshia was experiencing was making her feel so empowered, she almost wished Ashton would try something so that she could vent some of it. Ashton chuckled darkly.

" Hurt me?" he asked softly and turned to go. " Hurt…pain…tell me Malfoy, spoken to mummy recently?" With this he headed back up the corridor and darted down a turn leaving Leshia staring after him in surprise, which soon turned to horror.

" Mum," she whispered and without thinking careened after Ashton as though she were possessed. She followed his distant footsteps until she rounded a corner and ran straight into a hooded figure. After bouncing off the hulking giant of a student she quickly scrambled to her feet realising that there were more of them…loads of them in fact.

'Oh no,' she thought briefly before the curses came thick and thin. What manner of pain and suffering she felt she later forgot, but what she did remember was that it seemed to go on for ever, when it couldn't have been too long – she couldn't have sustained such attacks for too long. Finally, after squinting at her attackers through pained and sometimes bleeding eyes, they suddenly dispersed, sprinting down corridors in all directions. They had obviously been caught.

But who it was that came to her rescue was a surprise that Leshia only briefly managed to hold before she passed out from her injuries. The last thing she could remember seeing was the terrified expression on Snape's face.

" Leshia can you hear me?" THUD.

XXX

Hours later Leshia opened her eyes to a frenzy of activity. Everything hurt and upon trying to move her aching limbs she alerted the frenzying professors to her consciousness who quickly moved to put her back into a deep sleep.

When she awoke the next time it was light outside and the hospital wing was blissfully quiet. With only a thumping headache Leshia pulled herself up in bed and looked down at herself. No obvious scars or injuries.

" That's good," she croaked and pushed the sheets off herself and gingerly she swung her legs over the side of the bed. A sliver of electric pain shot up her back the second her feet touched the floor, and the intensity of it caused her to lie down again wincing.

" I wouldn't try to move too quickly if I were you, you've undergone extensive treatment," a dreary voice came from behind a screen and as though on rollers Snape glided into view. Leshia scrunched up her face in protest, but lay back obediently. " Two healers from London had to apparate out. We're very lucky that we got to you in time." Leshia held his gaze and a flash of his terrified face crossed her mind. She twitched her head to the side trying to forget it, as she didn't want to start doubting his hatred of her, but it wouldn't budge. " Yes, it was I who found you. What were you doing down in the dungeons?"

" I don't remember," Leshia lied.

" You're lying."

" Am not," she tried petulantly and feigned a headache, having to nestle down into the covers to get away from Snape's mind-reading gaze.

" Those who assaulted you are in very serious trouble, they will most likely be tried as adults under the wizarding trials at the ministry," Snape continued on.

'He doesn't know who they were,' a voice piped up in Leshia's woozy conscience. Frowning she surveyed the teacher trying to see if this was true. He did seem out of sorts, as though trying to press the matter.

" I don't remember them," Leshia said trying to gauge his reaction: disappointment. 'Oh wow…he really doesn't know.'

" You must remember, it is very important…"

" But I don't," Leshia countered angrily.

" Yes you do," Snape suddenly countered in surprise. " Tell me." It was an order, and normally Leshia would have cowered under such a tone, but it was vitally important that she keep her information to herself for now.

" _Spoken to mummy recently?"_

'He knows where mum is,' she told herself bravely, searching for courage to face Snape's terrifying inquisition. For an hour they carried out this dance of lies and orders until finally Snape saw he wasn't going to wear her down.

" If you do not tell me then I will put you in detention until you leave this school," he said darkly and Leshia lowered her head, catching his gaze.

" Fine," she said and looked away. Snape made an exasperated sound and stalked away muttering about talking to Draco as soon as he'd finished his lessons for the day. Leshia watched him leave and felt a stab of hurt ripple through her. Draco. What she'd seen the night before hadn't conveniently left her head in the night and all she could see when she closed her eyes was their embrace.

" Yuck," she spat. " Disgusting!" And why wasn't he by her side? If she had nearly died then surely he ought to have been there waiting for her to come to? Fed up to the core of being told what to do she forced herself top endure the pain and managed to slip away without Madam Pomfry noticing. Looking down at herself once more Leshia decided that popular as she may be after that party, she probably wouldn't get away with starting a new Hospital Pyjamas fashion trend, so her first port of call was Gryffindor tower for a change of clothes. Her visit there did not go unnoticed and as soon as she walked in concerned sixth and seventh years swooped down on her.

" You should not be out of bed," Ryan told her with a big brotherly concern filling his face. Leshia half grinned at him.

" There's stuff I have to do," she said and tried to jostle past, but Ryan's concern for her was stopping him from letting her get away.

" Who did this to you?" he asked sounding furious.

" I don't know," Leshia managed, feeling touched by his concern. He believed her lie and shook his head.

" When we find out…" he began and several of his friends practically rubbed their fists in malice.

" They'll be thrown into Azkaban," Leshia interrupted. " Or so Snape says." Finally Ryan let out a sigh and smiled charmingly at her.

" Not sure how you're going to fly in two weeks time in the Hufflepuff game," he remarked casually. Leshia frowned.

" What are you talking about?" she laughed. " I just feel a bit sore."

" Oh it's not that," he said lightly as she made her way to the stairs. " I just don't see how you and your cotton wool wrapping are going to fit on a broom that's all." Leshia forced a smile wanting to say, 'he doesn't even care enough to come visit the hospital wing, I don't think we have to worry about me being wrapped up in cotton wool.'

" Could use two brooms," she managed instead and darted away feeling her eyes stinging. Lessons were out of the question and robes to difficult to fuss with, so Leshia simply pulled on some jeans and a polo shirt before making her way down to the common room again.

It was still a little early, so to pass the time she sat in the most comfortable of armchairs and enjoyed being doted on with food and drink and entertainment. After an hour the portrait swung open and people started filing in, stopping short when they saw Leshia and relief flooding their faces. She was probed with questions from all directions about what had happened, but she just blanked them and said she couldn't remember. Finally two shaking wrecks fought their way into the common room and when their eyes fell on Leshia Katie actually started crying.

" Leshia there you are!" she cried and she fell on Leshia for a hug. Rachel shook slightly as she sat down beside her on the armchair.

" Everyone's been saying horrible things, that you're disfigured, limbless, a nut job…"

" Hey," Leshia laughed.

" Seriously, they would have sent you to St Mungos but they didn't think you'd make it. That I know is true," Rachel said and she leaned her head on Leshia's shoulder.

" Well I'm fine, so everyone can stop drama queening on me," she said loudly.

" Well it's not that, it's just that no one saw you leaving the hospital wing, everyone's looking for you, they think whoever it was came back to finish you off. Your dad's a state Leesh you should go and see him," Katie explained, having recovered now. Leshia shrugged.

" I don't think so," she said softly.

" What are you talking about? He was so upset that in our lesson today he just let us do what we wanted while he stared out the window tearing a book apart…" Katie explained.

" Yeah we think he was meant to be reading it, but the page turning sort of turned into page tearing," Rachel cut in.

" So why didn't he come to the hospital wing?" she demanded and added silently, 'And why was he snogging the face off some woman that was not my mum last night?'

" He was, all night, but you just weren't waking up and when we went in this morning I was afraid that if we accidentally knocked him he'd break into a thousand pieces. I mean your dad is pale, but man, this morning his was so white he would have disappeared into the snow had he gone outside," Rachel said with wide eyes.

" It was too much Leesh, he told us to go to class, that it was best to do something…anything, waiting is what hurts the most." Leshia sighed and looked away.

" He found Snape carrying you to the hospital wing….apparently…" Rachel winced and didn't need Katie to stamp on her foot to know this was most likely a 'no go area', but Leshia had to know. She'd find out eventually. " You didn't even look like you. He didn't know it was you."

" And when he did find out he went into shock, Madam Pomfry had to force a whole packet of chocolate down his throat before he could talk again," Katie added softly. Unable to hear them going on about how great and caring Draco was Leshia let out and exasperated sigh and turned to them.

" I caught him with Professor Larkin last night, that's why I was down there!" she cried out and everyone turned and stared at her. Most had the decency to look away, but some unashamedly stared as Leshia poured her heart out to her friends. " So don't tell me how great he is, because no wonder he's forgotten all about mum when he's off playing tonsil tennis with that harpy when my back's turned!" Katie and Rachel looked at one and other in surprise, but then they smiled.

" No you've got it all wrong…" Rachel began – gossip in a boarding school is like fire in the woods, it spreads uncontrollably and at lightning speeds. Everyone had heard of Larkin's embarrassing pounce on Draco, it was old news compared to the Leshia debacle.

" No I haven't," Leshia fumed and she jumped to her feet. " You're right, I should go see him," she exclaimed almost wildly and with that she stormed out leaving everyone watching after her with looks of extreme concern.

XXX

The world had gone mad. It was as though Leshia was on the ten most wanted list as she marched down the corridors towards her father's study. People tried to stop her, pointed and stared and called after her, but she wouldn't listen. Thankfully no one seriously tried to get in her way and within no time she was sat in her father's empty study wondering angrily if he was with Larkin again.

She didn't have long to wait as Draco – who had been combing the corridors himself – had heard word of her heading towards his study and quickly made a beeline towards it. As he burst through the door his heart was beating so ferociously it felt as though it might break if he found Leshia to be damaged in any way. Seeing her sitting on the chair by his desk, looking as far from a near death experience as possible, calmed him, but still he dropped his hands exhaustedly and nearly collapsed onto the sofa.

" Leshia," he exclaimed so emotionally that his voice broke. Within two strides he'd crossed the office and had collapsed beside her chair, pulling her into an embrace. It was almost life giving, every second longer that he touched her, the stronger he began to feel. The terror that had been driving him forward was washing away and now he became aware that she was shaking.

" What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he demanded, pulling backwards as far as he could manage, his arms still around her shoulders. Leshia looked him in the eye and what lay there shocked Draco nearly as much as finding his daughter unrecognisable and in pieces in Severus' arms: hatred lay in those perfect blue eyes. " Leshia?" he managed uncertainly.

" I saw you," she exclaimed softly, anger lacing her words, making them cold. Draco frowned in intense confusion and fought the urge to pull her into another embrace and squeeze away this anger she was expressing.

" What are you talking about?" he asked instead, his intense frown causing his eyebrows to meet somewhere in the middle.

" You and Larkin! I saw dad!" she hissed. He looked away briefly with his mouth half open in confusion, but then that brief memory came back to him and he snapped his eyes back onto Leshia.

" That?" he managed sounding relieved and surprised.

" Yes that!" Leshia raved her eyes so round from fury they looked like dinner plates.

" That wasn't anything," Draco told her firmly.

" It looked like something to me," she said drearily. " How long has it been going on? Were you even going to tell me?"

" No Leshia you've…"

" No wonder you don't care about mum, not when you've got _her_," she spat.

" I don't have her, you've seen it all wrong," Draco said calmly.

" I saw you with my own eyes…"

" She lunged at me, I pushed her off. Is that what you were doing down there?" He sounded shocked that it was hit fault she'd been down in the dungeons and for now he hit an all time low once more. It was his fault.

" Don't change the subject and don't lie," Leshia admonished him furiously.

" I'm not lying you silly girl," Draco countered getting slightly angry himself. Leshia shook from anger and finally pushed Draco off, who'd still been clinging to her, but Draco was not ready for her to run out just yet and put his hands round her shoulders again. She fought him off, but he clung back on and for a moment they fought each other, Leshia's face slowly beginning to contort into a sorrowful sob and finally, she gave in and threw her arms around his neck crying into his shoulder.

Draco pulled her off the chair into a proper embrace and she cried until there was nothing left to cry about…well, except the pain shooting through her spine every time she moved.

" I'm sorry you saw what you think you saw," Draco said softly.

" She really lunged at you?" Leshia whispered.

" Yes, if you would have stayed a little longer you would have seen me push her off," Draco assured her adding silently, 'and you wouldn't have nearly got killed either.'

" Was she angry?"

" Furious." They pulled apart and first Draco smiled sadly, followed shortly afterwards by a truly happy smile of Leshia's, but it was short lived because suddenly her expression changed and she was alive with suspicion.

" Dad Cole Ashton knows where mum is!" she exclaimed as though she had suddenly single-handedly found the cure to ageing, or the way forward to world peace. Draco leaned back and frowned.

" So do I, in Mexico," he said slowly, leaning forward again to look into her pupils. Had all those curses and hexes addled her brains, she'd been painfully close to a number of mental disorders as it was; people masked her peculiarities behind the label eccentric, but occasionally Draco had been worried for her in the past.

" You know something's happened," Leshia accused and an argument of old was brewing. Draco wanted to stop it and he got to his feet turning his back on her.

" Not now Leshia, don't start this again," he complained angrily and he dropped down on the sofa sighing heavily.

" Start what?" Leshia demanded. " Dad you don't seem to care, mum's missing again. It's happening all over again and this Cole Ashton boy knows where she is. He told me! He said to me, 'spoken to mummy recently?' I know he knows…"

" Leshia stop it, you shouldn't work yourself up," Draco admonished, but whatever path Leshia was hurtling down it was a one-way road and there was no coming back from her tirade now. Draco would have to baton down the hatches and wait it out, like in any other storm.

" He said…"

" He was winding you up," Draco complained.

" He wasn't," Leshia cried out angrily, marching round to the sofa and facing off with Draco with a glare fixed firmly on him.

" Leshia," Draco sighed and he shook his head. " You don't understand. I know it's hard for you, but you have to…"

" Bullshit." Draco stared at his daughter in surprise, one eyebrow raised, the other dipped in disapproval. If it could have been possible Leshia would have been staring at herself open mouthed too, swearing in front of dad, not good. Not, not good.

" Alecia …" he began angrily.

" I'm sorry!" Then with a petulant pout she added, " But it is. Of course I understand. You don't understand. She was starting to remember, she told me she loved me. Why would she just stop writing again? It doesn't make sense dad! It doesn't!"

" There's something you don't know…"

" Dad!" Leshia shouted exasperatedly. " Stop it! Why would she just stop writing? It doesn't make sense and now this guy Ashton he…" Draco closed his eyes as though all of a sudden he'd had to make a difficult decision. Leshia ranted and raved as he slowly got to his feet and retrieved a letter from a box on his shelf. Without a word he handed it out to his daughter, who momentarily stopped her noisy and increasingly annoying tirade, to stare at the much-pawed-over-letter.

" Go on, read it," he said softly, his expression softening. Of course she had every right to be angry, he'd been keeping a very big secret from her. A secret that was going to break her heart all over again and even he'd fought to stop it, it was inevitable, like the sun setting. He watched as her brow began to crinkle and looked away.

_Malfoy,_

_Stop writing to me. I am not who you think I am. You're beginning to upset me, don't write again or I'll send the Mexican Ministry Law officials on you. Judging what they did to the last poor sod they interrogated, I would rather not set them on you, but you are trying my patience._

_I know this is all my fault. I let myself get carried away with your daughter's fantasies and I do feel terrible for this mess, because there's a child involved. Please can you stop her from writing to me, I'm not opening her letters. She's disturbing my colleagues at work also. You have to get her to stop contacting me. I do not wish to speak to her._

_As for you, I do not wish to hear from you again. I can't explain it, but I do have a memory of you and I do not like it. Frankly, you scare the hell out of me._

_Regards,_

_Leshia Westcoast_

Draco watched as Leshia's eyes darted over the scripture several times, obviously rereading it and then rereading it again. Odd, she didn't look devastated, just confused and extremely belligerent.

" It's a fake," she finally said looking up at Draco incredulously. " Dad don't tell me you believed this?" Hope. There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. A part of her was letting go of her crusade. A part of her at least, was grieving her lost mother.

" Yes Leshia I do believe it," he said, taking from her the letter and placing it back in its box, the last words he'd ever hear from his wife.

" But it's stupid, why would she remember us one day and then not remember us the next?"

" She was obliterated sweetheart," Draco explained gently, sitting down beside his daughter and taking her hands in his. " It does terrible things, irreversibly destroying not only memories, but also memory processes. She is never going to recover, she is never going to come home." Leshia shook her head so firmly she was swinging wildly from side to side.

" No," she whispered murderously. " Something's happened to her and you're too much of a coward to go after her!" Draco groaned exasperatedly and let her go again.

" Don't be so stubborn," he complained and turned away. " You're going to have to accept this Leshia whether you like it or not."

" Well I'm not going to," Leshia cried out indignantly, jumping to her feet and running round to look up at her father. " I'm not a _coward _like you!" A nerve was starting to twitch in Draco's neck. Under any normal circumstances that was tantamount to a massive neon flashing 'warning danger' sign and resulted in Leshia getting the hell out of his vicinity as quickly as possible, but now she was too far gone to care that if she persisted he would probably blow his top.

" I'm not a…" he began painfully slowly, closing his eyes.

" Yes you are, Ashton has done something to her, or he knows who did. I want to rescue her, but you're too much of a coward…" _Snap_.

" Don't," Draco bellowed taking hold of her arms and leaning close to her face. " Ever. Call. Me. A. Coward. Again." With a shake he let her go, turning away wiping his brow agitatedly, but rather than dousing her anger it fuelled it.

" Coward!" she yelled as forcefully as she could. Draco closed his eyes and exhaled shakily. He was losing it, so this is what it felt like to go mad. On his diagnosis sheet at St Mungos it would undoubtedly say 'driven insane by petulant preteen daughter' and people would point and laugh at the man who spawned the spit-fired madam that was the end of him. " I'm going to find mum and when I do, I'll tell her all about how you were a coward…"

" Get out!" Leshia stopped talking, but Draco's anger was now fully unleashed. " Just get out of my office you silly child." And as though caught up in a whirlwind of emotion he took her by the collar and frog marched her to the door where he pushed her out into the corridor.

Leshia was staring at him with an amazed expression, that very soon turned through the motions: anger, sadness, fear, heartbreak, and ended on hatred. The look she cast him before she sulked off haunted Draco later that night when he'd calm down. It was so indescribably bitter that it made him shiver, but what was worse were the words that came out of his little girl's mouth for the first time in her life.

" I hate you."

Reaching out to her, regretting already his temper Draco tried to call her back, but Leshia was gone. As she stalked down the corridor her anger was quickly making way for tears and she ducked into an empty classroom where she safely collapsed against the door, feeling her heart aching.

" He's not my dad anymore," she whispered, before a tearing pain in her chest caused her to grasp for her heart and cry out in pain. " Not anymore! Professor Malfoy," she panted and clouds started swimming before her eyes. " That's who he'll be from now on."

XXXXXX

End of Part II

Thanks guys, sorry not quite 18000, a mere 17,200, but hey I tried. Please review, I love to hear from you!


	3. Part Three

Thank you very much for the reviews. I think I'm on the creative superhighway, this chapter just sort of fell out of my head, so here goes. Enjoy, I'm not used to updating so quickly with mega chapters :) but this was fun

**Part III**

For the second time in twenty-four hours Leshia woke up woozily in the hospital wing. This time though the concerned faces of her friends greeted her with big smiles when they saw Leshia beginning to come to.

" Leesh," Katie uttered softly.

" We were so worried," Rachel added firmly, as though angry that Leshia was somehow worrying them on purpose.

" What happened?" Leshia croaked and she tried to move, but found her body wouldn't obey her commands. " Why can't I move?" she frantically cried.

" Professor Dumbledore's put you in a body binding spell," Katie explained looking concerned.

" Why?" Leshia demanded.

" Because you had a heart attack Leesh," Rachel said softly. " It was too soon after treatment for you to be running around the castle getting stressed out, so they're keeping you here, whether you like it or not."

" For how long?" Leshia managed feeling miserable.

" We don't know," Katie offered. " We were supposed to go and get them when you woke up, they wanted to talk to you."

" Who's they?" Katie and Rachel looked darkly to each other.

" You're not going to like it," Rachel warned.

" Who?" Leshia pressed frantically.

" Well the minister of magic is here…"

" What!"

" Everyone's concerned that there's a band of nutcases loose at the castle," Katie tried, but Leshia wasn't really listening.

" Who else?"

" Dumbledore."

" And?"

" Well that's it," Katie said with a frown.

" Good," Leshia said firmly.

" Leesh what's going on? Your dad hasn't even been in to see you, he's locked himself in his study," Rachel said uneasily.

" I don't want to see him, and he's not my dad anymore," Leshia exclaimed firmly. " He's just a frightened coward." A tear trickled from her eye and her friends knew not to go there at this moment. They were under the strictest instructions not to aggravate or stress Leshia out, she was too fragile to deal with heavy emotion at this moment. The second heart attack, or rather the latest, as it wasn't clear how many she'd suffered during the initial assault, nearly finished her off. The only reason she was still alive was because Filch, of all people, had seen a student darting into a classroom when they oughtn't to have been. Eager to catch another a thief in the act he rushed after her and found Leshia unconscious and blocking the door.

Thankfully the damage had not been irreversible and Madam Pomfry had managed to rescue Leshia from death's door without more of St Mungo's healers having to apparate out. Her body needed rest, and Leshia was not the kind of child that liked to sit still or do as she was told so Dumbledore had reluctantly put a spell on her so she wouldn't cause herself more harm.

Katie and Rachel got to their feet and left a miserable Leshia to go in search of Dumbledore. They hadn't stepped three steps outside the hospital wing when they found that Dumbledore, Minister Crayik and his entourage of Aurors were making their way down the corridor towards them, and from the direction of the classrooms Draco was stood in the corridor watching them approach.

Not wanting to tell him he couldn't see his daughter, the girls were relieved to see that Draco was hovering at a distance, not wanting to come close.

" Is she okay now?" he asked in a small voice, addressing the girls, who both nodded quickly. A look of relief crossed Draco's face, only to be replaced with sadness again.

" Evening Draco," Crayik called to one of his once-greatest Aurors. Draco seemed to look straight past him and managed a nod.

" Good evening sir," he said and sidestepped, almost stumbled, over to the wall for some support. He looked wretched. Something very serious must have happened the girls concluded and for a moment they felt very sorry for not only Leshia, but Draco as well.

" You should accompany us Draco," Dumbledore called to the young man, concern filling his face, but the younger man shook his head and took a few steps back.

" That's not possible Albus," he said and started to back away again, his aura screaming out grief and dismay. Dumbledore looked aggrieved and sighed heavily, before looking at the young girls standing before him.

" Perhaps is it best if for the moment you allow us to speak with Miss Malfoy in private," he told Katie and Rachel kindly. They nodded reluctantly and their loyalty warmed Dumbledore's heart. " It will not take long, as I believe Leshia has little she wishes to tell us."

" Can we wait here?" Katie asked, knowing it was past curfew.

" Of course." Smiling at the headmaster as he walked in, they turned to watch Draco still backing away looking as though he were still caught in some nightmare.

As the figures surrounded her bed Leshia felt indescribably afraid of them. Intensely vulnerable, she desperately wanted to be able to jerk away from them. Dumbledore, being a wise and sensible man, in an instant released the spell and Leshia sat up, hugging her knees for comfort.

" I will not place this spell on you again Leshia if you promise me you will not try to escape again," he told her kindly. " Your health might suffer irreversible damage if you leave before you are ready once more." Leshia nodded quickly, knowing that she was going to have to listen…just this one time.

" What happened to me?" she asked softly.

" That is what we are here to find out," Crayik interrupted, sounding gruff, already aware that the girl had lied and would undoubtedly do the same again. He had been all for leaving out the pleasantries and going straight for the truth potion. However, Dumbledore had vehemently refused him, letting him know that if he did such a thing he would set Draco loose on them, and knowing the extent to Draco's anger when his family came under threat, Crayik quickly relented. He'd been miserable for a whole week when Draco announced he was resigning. The then young Malfoy had been excellent at his job and was heading for great things, but his wife's disappearance and the strain of having an unruly daughter to raise on his own had meant being an Auror was out of the question. In a way Crayik resented this girl sitting before him for depriving him of one of his best men.

" Well I don't remember anything," Leshia said softly, holding the minister's gaze unblinkingly. Crayik felt a shiver run up his spine. The girl was a perfect blend of her parents, Hermione's features with Draco's colourings. Those eyes, though differently shaped, were Draco's. Her gaze was equally as intense as her father's, and in that moment Crayik realised he wasn't going to get anything out of this girl, not if she resisted.

" That's all right Leshia," Dumbledore said kindly, flashing Crayik a warning look and he sat down on the stool that Katie and Rachel had been sharing for the last two hours in their unwavering vigil. His kindness softened some of Leshia's bravado and she felt comforted.

" Sir," she began softly. " What happened? Why did I get a heart attack, what did they do to me?" Dumbledore shook his head.

" Terrible things, curses that we've not seen the likes of before," he explained. " Undoubtedly learnt from dark acquaintances. Your heart suffered terribly, but as did many of your other organs. You were extremely lucky that we were able to restore your appearance, as your skin had suffered from severe burns and other abnormalities." Leshia shuddered despite herself; that was lucky.

" Do I look like me?" she asked worriedly, not having seen her reflection yet. Dumbledore smiled.

" You will not notice a difference when you see yourself again," he said kindly. " Your left arm," he said pointing to where a thin red line snaked its way almost the entire length and circumference of her arm. " Was particularly difficult to repair. Almost entirely severed and ravaged, we were afraid you might lose it, but the healers at St Mungo's have not been nominated for practitioners of the decade seven times in a row for nothing. I am forever in debt for their skill and perseverance."

" Me too," Leshia said softly, cringing at the thought of losing her arm.

" You need not worry Leshia, there are no lasting effects of the horrors your assailants released on you," Dumbledore said and his look turned slightly serious. " It is now important to ascertain whether there is a band of assailants roaming the castle feely attacking whoever they wish, or whether they were singling you out." He held Leshia's gaze seriously and the girl knew that he knew her thoughts.

" I already have a lot of enemies," she finally managed, desperately not wanting to let go of her secrets.

" Can you give us any names so we can begin interrogation…" Crayik began, but Dumbledore looked to him severely.

" Questioning," he said with such force that for a moment the light in the room seemed to dim.

" Yes, that's what I meant," Crayik quickly continued. " Force of habit," he offered with a shrug, but Leshia could tell he wished the headmaster would stay out of all of this. " Any names?" Leshia shrugged.

" All of Slytherin?" she suggested with a stale expression. Crayik was not impressed.

" This is a very serious matter Miss Malfoy, you should know better than to fool around," he said sternly. Leshia glared at him, 'Why, because of my _father_?' she thought bitterly.

" I'm not fooling around," she cried out instead, acting indignant. " They hate me. They call me blood traitor. I can't think of any of them that have enough intelligence to pull off a stunt like this, they're all as thick as two short planks…"

" Leshia," Dumbledore sighed, but his eyes twinkled.

" If you want to question people question the whole lot of them, but you won't find anything. Whoever it was will have covered their tracks, they'll all lie for each other. You'll never get anywhere." She sounded determined and angry. Crayik regarded her with a raised eyebrow. " You may as well give up."

" And let a group of people terrorise the school?" Crayik laughed cruelly.

" They weren't after the school, they were after me," Leshia said softly, her eyes never leaving Crayik's face.

" So you wish for us to let them get away with it so they can come after you and finish you off, is that it?" he asked.

" No," Leshia said darkly. " This time I'll be ready."

" I think, that is enough for now gentlemen," Dumbledore announced and he got to his feet.

" But Professor…" Crayik began.

" Need I remind you that this girl has been through a terrible ordeal and requires rest Minister?" Dumbledore said and his eyes blazed with a hidden passion. " She has told us what she knows, now, if you would like to go on ahead, I would like to have a few words with Miss Malfoy alone." He was sounding so forceful that Crayik and his gang of burly Aurors grumpily conceded and stalked off. Once the door had shut Dumbledore sighed heavily and looked down at Leshia sadly.

" Leshia," he said softly. " Grief is a terrible thing, something that I'm afraid you do not fully understand."

'This is about dad,' Leshia grumbled internally.

" I know that something's happened to her sir, I just know it," she blurted out. Dumbledore held her gaze as though trying to read her like a book. Eventually he nodded slowly.

" You must remember that your father grew up in dreadful times Leshia. He suffered many grievous heartbreaks during the war, as most did," Dumbledore explained softly. " They left him weary, but not weary enough to love and love he did. He loved your mother so much that he would have gladly given his life to save her, and then they had you. His heart swelled with so much love, and I feared that he would fall so terribly hard should anything happen. Your family was in danger from Voldemort's followers and eventually something terrible did happen. Draco's decline into grief was not obvious to the outside world, but inside he was hanging on by a thread, and that thread was you." He paused and looked into Leshia's eyes, but was aggrieved to see no emotion in her slate eyes. " Losing your mother was a fatal blow to your father's outlook Leshia, you must understand that judging him by your own high standards is going to cause you both unnecessary heart ache. You cannot understand how he suffers. To throw his heart out once more and believe what you so blindly cling to might be the end of him."

" But…" Leshia burst out and then trailed off, objecting to him telling her her faith was blind.

" Should you be wrong," Dumbledore suggested. " You, I fear, will suffer greatly and this alone will drag your father down. He has no choice but to remain afloat." With this the wise headmaster got to his feet and smiled at the young girl. " You must follow your heart," he said softly. " But don't drag your father down, he's been struggling his whole life to stay above water. If you cling on, he might not make it up again." With this he left Leshia staring after him with a tear in her eye. How could he defend Draco's decision to be a coward?

XXX

After a whole week Leshia was finally released from the hospital wing on full recovery. She was getting extremely anxious to be cooped up in bed and even though she had a steady stream of visitors while she was incarcerated – excluding Draco of course, she was dreadfully lonely. In order to celebrate her release from Madam Pomfry's clutches several Gryffindors had stolen a case of butterbeer from Hogsmeade and they drank well into the evening, enjoying any excuse for a party.

Leshia was a living legend amongst her peers now, after Amy and Sarah had spread the gossip that she had been solely responsible for the excellent party enjoyed by all on Halloween and also purely for surviving the terrible onslaught she'd endured. Shying away from the attention and because she was exhausted, Leshia managed to get away at about eleven and she and her friends crept up to their dormitory largely unnoticed. Silently they changed and then gathered on Leshia's bed, looking at one and other happily.

" You glad to be back?" Katie asked, breaking the comfortable silence. Leshia nodded fervently.

" That Madam Pomfry runs a tight ship! I'm telling you, if I can get through school without ever having to stay there again I'll be happy," she explained firmly. The other two grinned. " Yeah I know, seems hard to imagine doesn't it? Me staying out of trouble for seven years…" She drifted off and leant back on her pillows. " Is there any new gossip?"

" Gracie Wallis in Ravenclaw is going out with Parys, Nicola's devastated," Rachel sniggered. Leshia grinned.

" And there's a rumour about that Professor Larkin fancies Ryan Lofting, you know, in sixth year," Katie said with a giggle.

" Really?" Leshia chuckled, but her throat went a little dry and there was no twinkle in her eye. " Poor guy."

" She says it's not true, she gave Rodeo detention for bringing it up the other day," Rachel laughed. They trailed off, there wasn't much gossip to go around, they'd been filling Leshia in daily on the happenings in class.

" And did I get any letters?" Leshia asked sounding as though she were desperately trying to sound casual, but not succeeding. Katie and Rachel exchanged an exasperated look.

" You know that you haven't, you've been asking us every single day," Rachel grumbled. " Leshia please…can't you just let it go?"

" Let what go? My mum?" Leshia asked shrilly, anger flashing in her eyes.

" That's not what I meant! Just please…go easy okay?" Rachel complained softly.

" Your dad's not been the same since it happened," Katie tried softly, ignoring the urgent look from Rachel – 'not mentioning Draco' had been a rule that she'd tried to press, but Katie hadn't agreed then and she didn't agree now.

" I don't care how he feels," Leshia said with frightening ease. " He's no concern of mine now."

" Leesh," Rachel sighed. " You can't just disown family members. Don't you think I would have got rid of Katie by now if you could?" Katie shot her cousin a playful punch before turning back to Leshia with concern in her expressive eyes.

" This is your _dad_ we're talking about here, he's always meant the world to you…he's all you have left…" She drifted off as the bored and noncommittal look didn't leave her friend's face. How was it possible, that she could just switch off part of her heart? How could you stop loving someone overnight? It didn't make sense.

" So what are we going to do about Ashton and the others?" Rachel suddenly asked, changing the awkward conversation. Leshia blinked slowly and a small dark smile spread across her face.

" Nothing," she said distantly. Rachel and Katie frowned in unison.

" What do you mean?"

" Yeah! Shouldn't we be plotting a horrible revenge? I thought that was the plan! I've been looking forward to it," Rachel complained. Leshia shrugged.

" For now let's wait, he'll get what's coming, just not yet," she said firmly. " Besides, I need him. Right now I've got the upper hand. He knows that if he does anything I'll tell and I need him to tell me where my mum is…"

" Look Leesh _if_ he knows," Katie said dramatically, pulling an expression that read 'and-it-aint-likely' loud and clear. " Then he's not going to just tell you is he? He's not going to get himself in more trouble!"

" I know," Leshia replied softly. " But he'll crack eventually. We just have to keep him scared."

" Well what if he doesn't?" Katie wailed exasperatedly.

" Then I loose my mum for good," Leshia snapped back. Silence. This was awful, never had their friendship felt so awkward and forced. For a moment it felt as though they were balanced on the edge of a sharp blade. One wrong move and their age-old friendship might come crashing around their heels.

" Katie fell in the toilet this morning, did you hear?" Rachel suddenly beamed with a bright smile. As Leshia rolled around laughing Katie attacked her cousin with a pillow and for now, the crisis was over.

XXX

Come Monday morning Leshia felt her skin creeping anxiously. As of yet, it had been easy to pretend that her father had ceased to exist leaving only a strict and grumpy teacher in his place as she hadn't seen him, but today was her first day back and their first subject was Defence Against the Dark Arts. She wasn't sure how much her anger was going to stand fast when she clapped eyes on him again. Over breakfast it was hard enough to refrain from looking in his direction and he was unashamedly watching her, aware that everyone noticed he was doing so.

Rachel followed Leshia's lead and averted her gaze from the head table, but Katie couldn't resist and she looked up several times, each time regretting doing so, because the look of sadness on Draco's face was overpowering. He looked so alone that she felt like kicking Leshia for being so selfish. When the post arrived however, and she saw the look of blind hope on Leshia's face as she looked up, haplessly searching the feathered skies for a winged messenger bringing her news of her mother, her stomach churned with guilt. How could she accuse her friend of selfishness, when her only crime had been having too much faith in her mother to believe that she would willingly try and forget them. It was a quiet breakfast, and as they headed off to Defence Against the Dark Arts, the girls grew quieter still. As they lined up in the corridor outside of the classroom however, the silence was shattered by a snide cackle. Damian Allseyer was slowly starting to clap his hands and soon, his Slytherin classmates had joined in, Archie and Violet albeit slowly, as they were slow to catch on.

The corridor was soon awash with applause, but had any mistaken this for genuine congratulatory applause then they should have taken a closer look at the snide and evil expressions the clappers were wearing.

" Great," Leshia drawled once they'd finished. " You've proven you can clap your hands together. Well done."

" We're applauding the heroes of the hour," Allseyer sneered with a malicious grin. Leshia, not for one minute believing it to be herself, but curious to see if Ashton and his friends hadn't been able to resist gloating and actually told people it was them. If he had, then intimidating him with the knowledge that she knew it was him was going to be difficult.

" And they are?" Leshia asked in a stale tone. Allseyer fidgeted from one foot to the other, 'he doesn't know,' Leshia thought happily.

" People I'd like to shake hands with that's for sure," he finally replied darkly.

" Well when they're locked up in Azkaban, you'll be able to walk up to their cells and shake them all you like." Laughter filled the corridor, coming from Allseyer and his friends.

" How are they ever going to get caught, there's no proof and you don't even know who did it!" he said triumphantly. Now it was Leshia's turn to laugh, before she stopped abruptly and adopted an incredibly eerie expression, with her mouth turned up in a lopsided grin.

" Don't I?" She let the realisation sink in and suddenly Allseyer's expression turned calculating. Before he had a chance to reply though, heavy footsteps from the end of the corridor alerted the children to Draco's approach and everyone darted into line checking their shirts.

Up close Draco looked haggard. He was paler than usual, with dark circles under his eyes and a dark tinge to his normally bright eyes. His manner was different also. Where before there had been a mischievous spirit to his daily search of the line-up for untucked shirts, today, he merely glanced up and down with no real interest. Once he was satisfied he opened the door and headed in before of the class, whereas before he would have held it open and made them pass him, intimidating them in the process. His desk was unorganised, the room was musty and the board hadn't been wiped clean from the lesson he had been teaching the last Friday.

" Get out your books, turn to page one hundred and ten," he ordered in an expressionless tone and everyone quickly complied. Leshia had to admit, the last time she'd seen him this bad was when Hermione had first disappeared and for a moment she realised she could make it all better if she forgave him, but then he finally looked at her and her anger came flooding back. In an instant Leshia looked away and pulled out her book, turning the pages like everyone else. Up in the front of the classroom Draco's heart ached a little more and he looked away, busying himself with sorting through his desk. Here he found a stack of parchments with a small note attached that had _Leshia_ crossed out several times and _Malfoy _scrawled instead on it – looking at her name every day had been too painful.

" These are the notes you missed," he said emotionlessly, dropping the notes down on Leshia's desk.

" Thank you sir," Leshia replied in an equally as emotionless tone. The whole class remained deathly still, watching this new dynamic in awe. What the hell was going on?

" Vampires," Draco said loudly, turning to look at the class. " Last week we focused mainly on methods in which to recognise them. Would anyone like to remind the class what the key features are?" Several hands went up into the air and so the class began.

Leshia didn't shy away from joining in the discussions; she participated like any other student. It was just that, which had Draco feeling drained by the end of the lesson. She was behaving no differently to her peers. She was behaving as though – and even seemed as though she felt - he were just another teacher. When she met his eye, she gazed almost past him. There was no passion, not emotion, no adorable tantrum that would normally accompany one of their fallouts…there was nothing.

At the end of the lesson there were still a few moments until the bell, and realising that for now this was how things were going to be between them, Draco took his chance to check up on how Leshia was coping. After letting the class chatter for the last five minutes he walked up to Leshia's desk and looked down at her. She looked up at him blankly.

" How are you feeling, after…" he trailed off, but held Leshia's gaze.

" Fine sir," she replied simply and looked back to her friends.

" Your arm…"

" It's fine," Leshia cut in forcefully. Everyone watched as Draco's shoulders dropped and several of the more sentimental members of the class (Katie included) glanced to Leshia with wounded expressions. Seeing the father's heartbreak was too much for some of them. The bell bleared out over the school and Draco nodded his head towards the door, giving them leave to go. To his dismay Leshia was so eager to leave that she was the first one out. At the door a figure lingered, but as Draco looked up with a solemn face it was Katie that stood there, looking at him with sympathy in her eyes. Draco held her gaze for a few moments before hanging his head, his eyes falling to the ground, the epitome of loneliness.

XXX

" Allseyer's freaked," Leshia told the others as they hurried with their classmates to the Potions dungeon.

" Well why does that matter?" Rachel asked.

" Because," Leshia said significantly. " He's going to spread word that I know who attacked me. Ashton is going to find out and it's going to rattle him. He'll wonder if I really know or not and for now I'm going to string him along, let the self-doubt set in." Rachel beamed at her friend as they walked in and found their usual seats.

" Awesome plan mate," she said gleefully and then turned on her cousin, noticing that Katie was unusually quiet. " What's wrong with you?" Katie looked up from her reverie and shook her head jerkily.

" Nothing," she lied and opened her books, turning away from the other two. Leshia and Rachel exchanged a sidelong suspicious look, but before they could start their interrogation Snape glided into the classroom.

His lesson was fantastically evil as usual, and by the end Leshia felt relieved that at least his treatment of her had not changed. That look of terror on his face when he found her lying half-dead was probably because he thought she was someone else…or he was afraid of the dark. By the end of the lesson Leshia had lost Gryffindor ten points, and she was gleeful as they were given leave to go. Her mood was short-lived.

" Miss Malfoy, remain behind," Snape ordered and Leshia came skidding to a halt beside his desk as everyone else filed out looking curiously back over their shoulders. Once everyone had filed out Snape looked up from the papers he'd been sorting and cast the girl his usual superior glance.

" We are yet to discuss the details of your detentions," he said airily. Leshia frowned heavily.

" What detentions?" she asked sounding confused.

" Oh you don't remember?" Snape asked, and he looked highly pleased at the situation. " The detentions every Sunday for the rest of the year, for lying to a teacher." In a sudden flash of memory it all came flooding back and Leshia's mouth dropped open. Surely he couldn't be serious? " I am deadly serious Miss Malfoy, for whatever reason you are behaving so foolishly self-righteous that you could pass for your mother. In not telling us who attacked you, you are endangering the rest of the school. You are going to be punished." Leshia narrowed her eyes furiously at the potion's master for his dig at her mother.

" Fine," she managed angrily, not wanting him to gain any satisfaction from her complaining or begging to get out of it.

" Good, for the time being your task will be," he began. " Every Sunday, for three hours a day you must help Professor Malfoy with his resources. They require constant sorting, and as I have nothing for you to be doing, you may as well help him." Leshia's expression darkened in misery. How dare Snape get involved! This was between she and Draco, how dare he stick his big nose in where it wasn't wanted.

" I'll do anything else," she said quickly. " Anything! I'll scrub cauldrons, sort stock jars, pickle pigmy eggs just _please_, anything but that!" A small smile snaked its way onto Snape's face and looked so out of place there it quickly morphed into a sneer, almost as though it were trying to fit in with its surroundings.

" Well you are going to have to get over whatever preteen crusade your on Miss Malfoy, because that is what I am asking, and if I hear that you are wasting Professor Malfoy's time, I shall double your sentence, and you shall have to spend both Saturdays and Sundays working with him."

" Preteen crusade?" Leshia spluttered and angry tears stung her eyes. " You don't know anything about it!" With that she darted out of the dungeon, tripping over Rachel in the corridor outside.

" Leesh what's wrong?" Rachel asked worriedly, looking as though she herself was a little pink around the eyes – normally a sure sign that moments before she'd been angry.

" I'll explain later, let's just get out of here," Leshia grumbled leading the way. " Where's Katie?" she asked looking around herself.

" Oh," Rachel stammered. " Library." Leshia knew it was a lie, but couldn't be bothered with whatever argument she and Rachel had evidently just had. There would be time for that later. Right now she just wanted to set as much a distance between herself and Snape as possible.

XXX

The trio were in terrible spirits for the remainder of the day, not even Hagrid could cheer them up after lunch with his lesson on baby animals and the appropriate care that ought to be given. All the other girls and some of the boys were swooning with joy at the cute and cuddly little creatures, but Leshia, Katie and Rachel were reserved and nothing held their attention very long.

" Some'in happened?" he asked them at one point, but they just smiled at him distantly and shook their heads. Classes rolled by and still they remained in an eerie calmness, not really talking to one and other, just trudging through in their own misery. After History of Magic, the last lesson of the day Leshia had quidditch practice, and after changing into some tracksuit bottoms and a jumper she raced down to the field with her broom where Luka and Mila (Keeper and Chaser respectively, and also a very much loved up couple) were ambling round, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

" Hey Leshia," they greeted her enthusiastically.

" I just had the best lesson with your dad," Mila said joyously. Leshia tried to hide the indignant look that had suddenly bustled onto her face. " He let us do whatever we wanted, he was just reading through newspapers the whole time." Leshia frowned and shrugged. Fighting the urge to go, 'yeah, so?' as this would probably seem extremely cocky and wouldn't earn her any favours, she smiled.

" That's great," she forced herself to say and thankfully the others started to arrive. By the time Luke and Tom arrived (straggling onto the field ten minutes after Ryan and Daniella) Leshia was up in the sky doing loops to keep herself entertained and to vent some of her pent up anger.

Training was exhausting, and it had never felt so good to be so physically challenged. Luckily the weather had eased and the snow had been melting all week, leaving only a mildly cold fog to contend with. Pleased with the calibre of his team Ryan sent them off with praise ringing in their ears.

" Something bothering you Malfoy?" Ryan asked as he caught up with her. He'd seen the little seeker trudging back to the castle on her own, and from the moment he clapped eyes on her, he'd seen she was severely troubled by something.

" Yes," she sighed. " Just Snape being an idiot." Ryan knew this wasn't the whole extent to her problems, but let it slide.

" Leshia?" The girl looked up, Ryan sounded very concerned, and besides, he never called her Leshia.

" Yeah?"

" I've been hearing things since lunch…about you knowing who attacked you," he said uneasily. Leshia looked away quickly, not wanting to lie to his face, he'd been so good to her by looking out for her.

" Just people spreading rumours," she said lightly. Ryan didn't believe her for one second.

" My God, you do know," he exclaimed sounding shocked. Leshia snapped her eyes on him and opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. She didn't want to lie. " Malfoy do you know?"

" I think I do," she said softly.

" Tell me!"

" I can't," she said softly.

" Well why? We all want to kick the living daylights out of them, and you're protecting them?" Ryan demanded sounding extremely frustrated.

" No I'm not…look I can't explain, it's too complicated. Just look at it this way," Leshia tried, stopping at the main entrance and looking up at her captain. " This person, they have something that I want, no, that I need. If they get the stuffing kicked out of them by you lot, or thrown into Azkaban by the minister of magic, then I'm going to lose this chance and it's too important for that." Her eyes must have revealed how sincere she felt about this because Ryan nodded in understanding.

" But what if they try again?" he asked sounding concerned once more.

" I don't think they will, not yet," she said truthfully.

" If you ever need my help, don't hesitate to ask." Leshia nodded dolefully. " And no more playing hide and seek in the dungeons!"

XXX

As Leshia and Ryan entered the common room Leshia was surprised to see Ashley and Nicola march over to her.

" I wouldn't go up there," Nicola warned her.

" Yeah, they're tearing chunks out of each other," Ashley added. Leshia's brow furrowed in confusion, but then she realised what was the matter and she ran up the stairs two at a time, bursting in on a very angry argument that had Katie in tears and Rachel bright red in the face. The moment their eyes fell on Leshia Katie's tears dried up, only to be replaced by a determined expression and Rachel began shaking her head.

" Don't Katie!" she said angrily, but whatever it was that Katie wasn't supposed to be mentioning, was about to come out and Leshia braced herself for it.

" I think you're being selfish," Katie exclaimed simply. Leshia looked surprised and she shut the door quickly behind her.

" What?" she asked sounding amazed.

" The way that you're treating your dad, I think it's really selfish and I think you should stop it." It was evidently taking a lot of effort to say these things, as Katie looked terrified by her own determination. Across the room Rachel's face was scrunched up and for an awful moment it looked like she was about to cry.

" I don't…" Leshia began, but trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. Unsure of where the anger was that had been rippling through her all day, and ought now to be springing to the surface with this betrayal.

" Katie!" Rachel finally managed and she wiped furiously at her face. " What did I tell you!"

" Draco's heartbroken Leshia," Katie carried on sounding more forceful now. " He's your dad, he's given up everything just to be with you here and you're treating him like dirt, just because he won't believe you. He's been through an awful time, are you surprised that he won't blindly cling to a hope in hell that your mum's not losing her mind again?" Leshia nodded calmly, inhaling slowly.

" Do _you_ agree with me?" she asked softly, her eyes the only part of her that burned with fiery passion. They alone expressed the anger that raged beneath the surface.

" It's not important what I believe, this is about you not ruining the relationship you have with your dad. Do you know how jealous we've always been of you?" Katie demanded exasperatedly. " You're a million times closer to him then I am to my dad. He understands you better than anyone. I wish I could have the same thing with mine…" she trailed off sadly, voicing for the first time the secret things that she and Rachel had always discussed.

" Answer the question."

" This isn't about me!" Katie cried out in frustration. " Leshia I love you, don't do this to yourself. Don't cut off your leg to spite your foot!"

" Do you agree with me!"

" No!" Rachel and Leshia stared in shock at Katie, who panted and shook her head. " I don't," she added softly. For a moment or two Leshia opened and closed her mouth wordlessly.

" Fine," she finally uttered and gave Katie the same blank look she'd been giving Draco all morning. Katie knew what that meant and she hung her head.

" Leesh," Rachel tried, but Leshia simply walked over to her bed and shut the curtains, closing out the miserable look that Katie gave Rachel, and ignoring the tears that fell from Rachel's face – a sight she'd never seen.

XXX

As the days passed Leshia had never felt so depressed. Ignoring her feelings for her father and one of her best friends drained her, so the time she spent with Rachel, who was flittering between Leshia and Katie wasn't joy filled in the slightest and they started to resent one and other a little too. It was a sombre morning the day of the Hufflepuff match. Leshia sat with the team and chatted tactics, the only thing that didn't require any emotional thinking.

Soon they were making their way out into the rain and starting their warm up lap around the packed stands. The weather didn't dampen the spirits of the school crowds though and everyone seemed as enthusiastic as ever. Even Katie and Rachel managed to forget about their predicament and got a little carried away with the crowds.

As planned, the second the whistle was blown Leshia darted high up into the air and hung there, looking down on the action below her with vague interest. It was a high goal match, definitely a crowd pleaser, but Leshia couldn't bring herself to feel enthused.

When each side had scored at least ten goals, Leshia spotted a gold glint near to Josie Managan, the Hufflepuff seeker, who was hovering several feet below, under the field of play. Without hesitation she dived at lightning speed, dodging expertly past the Hufflepuff beaters who had spotted her dive. People gasped and 'oohed' as the small Malfoy darted and weaved, chasing Managan's tail, who'd by now spotted the snitch as well. With nothing to lose, Leshia threw herself into the chase, closing in steadily and surely on the alarmed Managans's broom tail. Finally, after an exhausting chase they were neck a neck, Managan's arm outstretched to the snitch.

" Oh no you don't!" Leshia cried out and with a violent jolt, she shoved her body into her fellow seeker's. She'd only meant to knock her off track, but felt horrified when Josie toppled off her broom and fell to the ground. Had Leshia not had her hand outstretched for the snitch, she never would have caught it after such violent play, but as the crowds jumped to their feet in outrage (the Hufflepuffs) and glee (the Gryffindors) Leshia felt her hand close around the little wings and she held on.

It wasn't technically foul play, shoving your fellow seeker was a legitimate move, but as the other sodden Gryffindor players cheered around her, Leshia felt sick to her stomach as the teachers flocked around poor Josie on the ground. Unable to handle the guilt anymore she dived down to the ground and jumped onto the soaking grass.

" I'm sorry," she cried out frantically, pushing through the teachers to see Josie was unconscious.

" Out of the way Miss Malfoy, quickly," Professor McGonagall ordered pushing Leshia aside. " We need to get this girl to the hospital wing."

" But…" Leshia tried, panic filling her confused mindset.

" And might I say," McGonagall was continuing on. " I am most disappointed with your display in sportsmanship." Leshia hung her head and swallowed at an empty throat.

" So am I," she uttered softly once the teachers had cleared away poor Josie's unconscious body. Only two figures remained out in the torrential rain, and looking up Leshia caught eyes with her father. He was looking at her strangely. He was disappointed. Suddenly angry Leshia turned on heel and stormed off, dragging her broom through the mud to the changing rooms where she sat and listened to the cheers going up around the stadium in her honour, feeling disgusted with herself.

XXX

The following day Leshia woke late, feeling extremely woozy from being in the rain, she thought it almost cruel of fate to burden her with a cold when she was suffering so already.

" That's what you get for knocking someone off their broom," she grumbled to herself as she pulled on some warm clothes. Katie and Rachel had gone without her down to breakfast so feeling as though the world was against her, Leshia trudged on. The main hall was practically empty as the last stragglers came down to breakfast and as Leshia sat down Katie jumped to her feet rushing off, muttering some excuse about returning a book.

" I'm still reliving your glorious victory from yesterday," Rachel said happily, stretching out her arms. Leshia shrugged.

" It wasn't glorious Rach, it was cruel," she said softly, reaching out and helping herself to some toast.

" You can't help it she can't stay on her broom."

" Yeah well I didn't have to push her did I?" Leshia countered dejectedly.

" Then why did you?"

" I wanted to win."

" Well then, case closed, you did," Rachel said happily, downing the rest of her orange juice. She glanced at Leshia and then at Katie's retreating back. " So, that cousin of mine," she tried casually. " She feels really bad you know Leesh."

" Good," Leshia sighed, nibbling on the corner of her toast. " That makes two of us."

" Three," Rachel corrected. " I hate seeing you guys fight."

" Well maybe if she hadn't betrayed me we'd still all be friends," Leshia grumbled.

" Look, I know she was a bit of a muppet, but that's Katie isn't it? You know how she's really sensitive about the relationship she has with her dad. She finds it hard…you know…he just doesn't get her and she sees you and Draco as sort of a saving grace. She's living vicariously through you."

" What does that mean?" Leshia asked with a wrinkled nose and an expression of intense confusion. Rachel frowned.

" Not sure, I heard it on Suzy Panter once and thought it sounded good," she said with a shrug. Suzy Panter was the wizarding world's Jerry Springer, broadcast on the wizarding radio. Lavender was hooked and the amount of hours that Rachel had had to listen to the drivelling psychobabble was quite astounding.

" I'm not forgiving her Rach so don't even go there. Besides, how can I forgive someone when they're not even sorry?"

" She's sorry she hurt you," Rachel said softly. Leshia sighed.

" Yeah well so am I, but…" she trailed off, as suddenly after an irritating pang and flash, Tally had suddenly appeared on the chair opposite her. Rachel choked on her orange juice as the houself suddenly appeared on the bench at her side and quickly darted away from the small green madam.

" From Master," she said aloofly, holding out a slip of parchment. Leshia took it and glanced at it.

_Heard about your punishment._

_Come round at seven_

Tally disappeared with a pop and Leshia dropped the parchment.

" Dinner time," she sighed. " He's going to make me miss dinner. I'm telling you Rach, he'd better not try and talk to me."

XXX

It was with a heavy heart that Leshia trudged down to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office. She'd had a miserable afternoon trying to catch up on all the work she'd missed. Cramming four essays into one afternoon had ensured she was now in a foul mood and more so, because the work she'd produced wasn't very good at all and she felt ashamed of it. It was an internal struggle to lift her hand and knock the door, she so did not want to spend any time with her father lest it crumble her resolve, but she had to, and with a heavy heart she knocked loudly.

" Come in," Draco's voice called from the study. Leshia sighed heavily and pushed hard into the door. Draco was sitting on the ground surrounded by piles of documents. They looked suspiciously like the kind of documents he'd be found continuously rifling through when he'd worked at the ministry before coming to Hogwarts. Angry with her own curiosity, Leshia pushed the feeling away and looked blankly to her father.

" What do you want me to do sir?" she asked. He slowly made his way to his feet and nodded his head to a box full of photographs and parchments.

" I want you to sort that out into some sort of order," he said softly, his eyes crinkling with the hope that she might drop this insane behaviour and return instantly to the Leshia he knew and loved, but her anger was too deeply ingrained and with a nod she dragged the box away from Draco and sat in the corner pulling out pictures Draco had collected over the years as an Auror and case documents, all for the purpose of showing his sixth and seventh years.

She ignored the olive branch. As long as she could remember, she'd been begging Draco to have a look at this stuff. Draco sighed and looked down to the ground with a shake of his head. Things were worse than he'd thought. So with a resigned sigh he returned to his cross-legged position on the floor, rifling through his paperwork, stealing furtive glances at Leshia's back, wondering when he'd stopped being her idol.

XXX

They worked in silence for an hour until Draco got to his feet and walked over to his desk, taking his chair gingerly. On cue, two plates of food appeared on the table.

" You should eat something," Draco said softly, picking up the knife and fork in front of him. Leshia held her gaze fixed on the task at hand.

" I'm not hungry," she said sounding non-committal.

" You're still weak…"

" It's none of your business," Leshia interrupted lightly, as though talking to Draco was nothing more than an expenditure of energy and the contents of their conversation meant nothing to her.

" Leshia please?"

" I'm not hungry sir," Leshia said pointedly and briefly looked up with a 'and there's nothing you can do about it' expression. Draco held her gaze callously for a moment before dropping the cutlery again and grabbing a pile of papers from the corner of his desk.

" When you finish that you can go. I won't make you come back," he said dispassionately, before walking into his bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

'Why are you doing this?' a small voice came from the part of Leshia's conscience she often got angry with. 'You're killing him and you hate it too! You're such an idiot!'

" Go away," Leshia complained angrily.

'Well when you've lost all your friends and family, don't come crying to me about it.'

" I wish you'd get lost," Leshia grumbled angrily slamming a picture down on a pile she'd mentally labelled 'Gory' in her 'Gross'; 'Bloody'; 'Gory'; 'Gruesome'; and 'Indescribable' taxonomy. Wish granted Leshia felt suddenly alone and she sped up her task, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Not that the common room held much joy for her anymore either, but anything was better than this self-inflicted agony.

X

_Dear Minister,_

_I wrote to you last week, but I still haven't received any reply. Maybe it's because I wrote it in English, but maybe you could get someone to translate it into Spanish. Estoy Ingles! Hablo Ingles?_

_My mother has disappeared. Her name is Hermione Malfoy, but she's been going under the name of Leshia Westcoast. She works at the Americas Institute. I have reason to believe that something sinister has happened to her. I really think it would be in everyone's best interests if you looked into it._

_Please. Thank you._

_Yours Sincerely, Leshia Malfoy_

_P.S. Thank you for the Maracas, they were a very nice present. The spell is finally beginning to wear off so they're not shaking so much anymore _(" Thank God," Rachel had said, those self-shaking Maracas had been driving everyone in Gryffindor tower mad, especially seeing as they refused to be muffled under a pile of Leshia's clothes in her trunk)_, but it's not quite what I was asking for. No qiero otro Maracas!_

X

_Dear Ambassador,_

_It's Leshia Malfoy again, I've been writing to you since October, but you haven't yet written a reply. I guess my letters must be getting lost somewhere over the Bermuda triangle or something, because I don't know why you wouldn't write back to me – it's strange though, because I didn't think it affected owls._

_My mother has disappeared. Her name is Hermione Malfoy, but she's been going under the name of Leshia Westcoast. She works at the Americas Institute. I have reason to believe that something sinister has happened to her. I really think it would be in everyone's best interests if you looked into it._

_I'm making sure you get this one, so I'm copying it out three times._

_Please help me! Thank you._

_Yours Sincerely, Leshia Malfoy_

X

_Dear Ambassador,_

_I'm sending you a howler and reporting you to the newspapers! That sombrero you sent me instead of a reply shrunk my best friend's head, it took all day for it to return to normal! You can't send a child something like that!_

_Pig!_

_Leshia Malfoy_

X

_Dear Minister,_

_No, I said NO MORE MARACAS! Oh I give up…_

_Leshia Malfoy_

X

The pile of unopened returned letters lay in a small pile in front of Leshia's plate. She was staring at them with a defeated stare. Was the whole world against her? Not letting the uncooperative Mexican Magic officials get her down she pushed them away and looked down at the small number 12 she'd carved into her porridge.

'Happy Birthday,' she thought reservedly. It had been a meek day so far. Only Rachel had greeted her with a big smile and even though she'd receive all the usual presents, she'd returned the ones from Draco and Katie, leaving her with a few odd gifts left that weren't appealing in the slightest – a home sewing kit from Tally, some chocolates and sweets that had frozen and gone off in the blizzard raging across the north of Britain from the Potters and the Weasleys and a book on managing your anger from Nicola and Ashley. She'd made use of the Writing Kit Rachel had got her straight away by sending yet another letter off to Mexico, not that it would ever get read, but she had to try. Rachel had been violently sick when she tried one of the gone-off sweets – maybe her Uncle Fred and George had slipped a few of their inventions in by accident – and was now in the girl's toilets feeling extremely sorry for herself. Not as sorry as Leshia, who sat on her own at the end of the table, wallowing in self-pity.

" Cheer up, can't be that bad," Ryan Lofting's voice came and he and his friends Luka and Oskar dropped around the young Malfoy.

" It is," Leshia sighed and then smiled brightly. " But I love misery right?" Ryan grinned and shrugged – that's what everyone was saying, he didn't believe it to be true for one second.

" You can't be miserable on your birthday kid," Oskar told her with a small smile. Leshia made a small smile of confusion, how did they know?

" Happy birthday!" they suddenly burst out and from nowhere streamers exploded around them. People turned to stare semi-interestedly as the guys produced a card and a present.

" Ah thanks," Leshia beamed. " You really didn't have to!" Tearing the paper from the present she found it to be a very heavy book all about Quidditch history at Hogwarts.

" It automatically refreshes itself after each match," Ryan explained. " Look…" he opened the pages and turned to the end showing Leshia where a commentary and a picture of their latest match told about and depicted her shoving Josie from her broom. Grinning broadly Leshia looked up to the guys and her expression told them how much their kindness had meant to her.

Once they'd left, heading into Hogsmeade with everyone above third year, Leshia turned the pages and felt another pang of glee when she found that at the beginning of each year in the great book, it gave a description and mug shot of all the players on the teams combined with stats that looked to change with every game.

" This is the absolute best book ever," she sighed contentedly. The hall started emptying and with her new favourite present Leshia headed up to her room coming across a green looking Rachel on the way.

" You feeling better?" she asked with a small smile. Rachel shook her head jerkily.

" There's nothing left in my stomach," she groaned. Leshia smiled sympathetically and sat Rachel down in the common room showing her the book to cheer her up. For hours they pawed over the pages, going back to the days of their parents and looking at the games their parents had played in.

" Your dad looks so mean in these pictures," Rachel chuckled, seeing the pictures of the young Draco Malfoy in his school days. Leshia nodded with a smile.

" He _was _mean back then…" She suddenly stopped. Her good mood had staved her anger so much that she had forgotten that she'd been ignoring him for weeks now. The two girls looked at each other in surprise, before shaking it off and looking back to the pages. " Yeah, but look at _your_ dad!" Leshia squealed happily seeing Ron in all his once-dopey glory.

" Did your grandfather play Quidditch? I know mine didn't, but I've got a few great uncles that did," Rachel said.

" I don't know, let's see." Together they started peeling the pages further back, but then Rachel went quiet looking up at the portrait hole. Katie had just walked in with her satchel and frowning heavily at Rachel.

" Oh damn," Rachel hissed. " Katie I'm so sorry, I completely forgot." Whatever it was she forgot Leshia didn't find out because within seconds she was on her feet and rushing out of the portrait hole following a grumpy Katie. Leshia sighed and put the book away in her own satchel, which was still lying out from the night before with her finished homework tucked into it – with her new found solitude Leshia had been finding a lot of time for homework and her marks were better than ever. Looking around for something to do Leshia's eyes fell on Rodeo who was watching her from a table in the corner. He and Parys were working on their Transfiguration essays. Catching his eye he grinned charmingly at her, and with nothing better to do, Leshia got up and wandered over to them.

" Hi," she said and she looked questioningly to the chair beside them. " Can I sit down?"

" Of course," they both chuckled.

" I hear it's your birthday," Parys said with a small grin. " You look wicked miserable for it to be your birthday, but then again, you've had a pretty lame run of luck recently." Leshia grinned at the boy, he was more understanding than his carefree bravado gave him credit for. Like fire and water the boys differed. Rodeo was tall and wiry with the makings of broad shoulders, blonde hair that seemed to defy the affects of winter and was getting lighter by the day it seemed, and large understanding blue eyes that danced with mischief. Parys was tall, but not wily like his skinnier friend, he was built more solidly, yet it didn't give him the impression of looking stocky. His short black hair, dark eyes and olive skin gave him an exotic look, but his nondescript English accent said otherwise. They were only young still and yet to grow into their looks, but those girls in first year who were mature above their peers ogled the best friends unashamedly.

" Happy birthday," Rodeo said cheerfully and Parys quickly followed suit.

" No more birthdays, I'm sick of it," Leshia laughed and she noticed a pile of cards lying on the windowsill. " Fancy a game of exploding snap?" The boys grinned and quickly they were laughing themselves silly with their exuberant game. Their mirth was dampened when two seventh year girls nobody really liked, Cathy and Gemma, told them to keep it down, that _some_ people were trying to work.

" So what are you guys doing at Christmas," Leshia asked them curiously realising she knew little about them, as they settled down on one of the cosy sofas.

" I'm going back to London, we're having a huge reunion with my six brothers and sisters and all their screaming babies," Parys said with a roll of his eyes.

" I'm going back to Sweden to visit my grandparents," Rodeo added, not wanting his friend to hog all the attention. Leshia frowned.

" How are you getting there?"

" Well I take the train back to London with you guys and then take a plane to Sweden," he explained. Parys and Leshia were still staring at him blankly.

" And a 'plane' is?" Leshia asked frowning at her pronunciation, hoping she was getting it right.

" It's a…"

" Oh yeah," Parys suddenly interrupted with a 'light bulb switching on' expression. " Yeah my dad told me about them once, that's what muggles fly instead of brooms right?"

" Yeah well they're more like buses that fly, they take people to faraway places," Rodeo explained.

" How far?" Leshia suddenly demanded sounding breathless.

" Well anywhere," Rodeo said with a frown. " Anywhere you want to go."

" Even Mexico?"

" Well yeah." Leshia's mind was racing.

" And how do you catch one of these plane things?"

" You pay money at a travel agents, then you can go. Mexico would probably be expensive, like four hundred pounds or something." More blank looks. " That's about eighty galleons." For the remainder of the afternoon Leshia pressed Rodeo for more information on one of these plane thingies and exactly how she would be able to catch one and from where. By dinnertime she was hastily relaying her plans to Rachel.

" At Christmas I'm going to buy a ticket to go on one of these muggle planes, and I'm going to find my mum by myself!"

XXX

The weeks continued to fly by and soon the holidays were upon them. All of Leshia's friends – Rachel and the boys, who she'd taken to hanging around with more and more – were going home and knowing that whichever choice she made, to stay or go, Draco would follow, she decided it would be nicer to avoid him with all her creature comforts around her. Also, Leshia had two big reasons for wanting to go to London. She had a plane ticked to secure and she desperately wanted to pay the Ministry a visit to see if she could get them to try and find Hermione.

The train ride back to London was an exuberant one. Katie and Rachel sat in their own compartment with Ashley and Nicola, but Leshia shared one with the sixth year boys, intermittently joined by Rodeo and Parys. There was much laughter as the older boys doted on and teased Leshia as though she were a little sister and she was having the time of her life. What was even more enjoyable was that when Leshia headed for the toilet she came across Cole Ashton walking down the aisle. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and even though he scowled at first, he quickly lost his bravado when he noticed Leshia was smiling at him darkly, her expression reading loud and clear, 'I know, and there's nothing you can do about it.'

But all good things must come to an end, and soon the train was pulling into King's Cross where eager and excitable parents were waiting, bouncing up and down on their heels, hands all aflutter as the train pulled into the station to be greeted by a wall of waves. The guys helped Leshia down with her trunk and she begrudgingly followed everyone off the train, holding Philly close so that he didn't escape. The families started to clear away while mothers hugged their daughters close, showering them with kisses, and fathers clapped their sons on the back heartily congratulating them on a successful term. Once this barrage of family bliss had finally moved on two lone figures remained on the platform, looking as far from a picture of family bliss as was humanly possible. Leshia avoided Draco's eyes and started towards the barrier. As she passed him Draco watched her pass, sadness lacing his face.

The entire walk home Leshia remained several paces ahead of her father, refusing to walk with him, refusing to acknowledge that they were together. With every stride she took away from him, Draco's heart began to sink a little deeper. By the time he reached their grand townhouse Leshia had fished out her own keys and was off exploring the house to see if everything was where she'd left it. He didn't see neither hide nor hair of her for the rest of the afternoon and only managed to clap eyes on her at all because Tally (who had apparated home) was dragging her into the kitchen by her ear to eat dinner with Draco.

Had he not been terminally depressed with her treatment of him Draco might have smiled at the sight of Leshia being dragged in, hunched over so that the elf didn't pull her ear off, but as father-daughter relations were in disrepair at this moment he merely looked away blankly. No words were uttered between them during dinner, and had Tally not been angrily lecturing Leshia the whole way through about being a spoilt young lady, and had Leshia not been angrily shouting back that Tally was an ugly little toad then it would have been a silent affair.

It was a sign of how bad things were that Draco secretly enjoyed the noise, as under normal circumstances such a display would have had him taking his dinner through to his study to eat in peace and quiet.

Over the following days things got worse and Leshia started disappearing, where she was going Draco didn't know and the one time he tried to question her on her disappearing act she blanked him as usual and dodged the question. The haggard father began looking forward to the dinners, which were always accompanied by theatrics between Leshia and Tally. Come Thursday evening Draco walked into the kitchen to find dinner on the table and a distraught looking Tally. Not particularly interested in the latest melodrama in the houself's life, he took his seat and started to eat in silence. After five minutes he was surprised to see that the houself hadn't walked off to drag Leshia in.

" Where's Leshia?" he asked her with a frown. Tally's eyes brimmed over with anguished tears and in an instant Draco felt his heart freeze. " She's not here is she?" Tally shook her head.

" Tally doesn't know where Miss Malfoy has gone!" she squealed sounding horrified that she wasn't doing her job very well. So badly in fact that she'd lost her charge.

" Well how long has she been gone?" Draco asked seriously, getting to his feet and wiping his hands on his napkin. Tally relayed her daily sightings of Leshia to Draco while he bounded up the stairs three at a time towards Leshia's room. As he searched through her things to see if there was any hint as to where she may have gone Tally explained that she hadn't seen Leshia since three-o clock.

" You're supposed to tell me when she goes out Tally!" Draco rounded on the elf angrily. Tally wobbled on the spot looking mortified once more.

" But Master, Tally not knowing about Leshia going out," she squeaked. " Tally believed Miss Malfoy was in her room." Draco frowned and looked to the window where the curtains were ever so gently swaying in the breeze. He wrenched them open and found the window prized open. Down at the end of the garden a long wooden object lay in the snow, it had bristles on the end.

" Unbelievable, she flew down from her room?" he grumbled and wrenched the drawer of her bedside table open. Brochures from muggle travel agencies spilled out, and after shoving them out the way Draco fell on the remains of a broken piggybank, with a few sickles and knuts lying in the bottom of the drawer. He dropped down on the floor, leaning against the bed for support.

" She's run away…" he whispered and frantically grappled for the brochures. Without even glancing at the bronzed attractive faces on the cover happily frolicking on white sands under the title 'Real Mexico', he knew where these brochures were advertising.

" But Master, Miss Malfoy hasn't brought any of her things," Tally said, trying to regain her composure. Draco frowned and looked around realising everything was still in place. Surely she would need some things, if she were going all the way to Mexico.

" Her muggle passport," Draco suddenly exclaimed and he raced back out again, this time practically jumping down the entire length of the stairs. When Leshia had been little Hermione had ensured that she keep a passport for her daughter in case there was ever any need for it. Surely in order to travel on muggle transport she would need it? With his heart in his throat Draco ripped out the drawer from the bureau in the parlour and found with a state of complete relief that three maroon passports lay in the drawer, untouched since Hermione had lovingly placed them there five years ago. An anguished sound escaped Draco's throat and he leaned back on the bench in the parlour, relief and pain making his skin crawl.

" Well where the hell is she then?" he growled, getting angry himself now, he'd been easy going so far, but now Leshia was treading the line. She had no right to be treating him like this. She was still his daughter no matter how hard she wished she wasn't. Getting to his feet he stalked to the hall and pulled on his long thick black coat, scarf and gloves. " Tally I'm going to find her, if she comes back here you have my permission to hold her by the ear until I get back. Keep her here at all costs is that understood?" Tally nodded, getting herself under control once more. Striding determinedly forward Draco headed out into the snowy December's evening and turned left heading for the nearest muggle shops.

XXX

Meanwhile Leshia was going blue in the face from trying to argue with the woman behind the desk at First Choice travel agents. At first she'd been all too happy to oblige, expecting the girl's parents to come along any time soon. She'd looked up a seat on the next available flight to Mexico City that cost under £400 pounds and had finally found one available in early January. As she had turned on Leshia expecting her to say something along the lines of, 'My parents will be along soon to pay for it and sort out all the grown-up stuff', the girl instead had pulled out a wad of cash.

" Is this right?" Leshia then asked handing over the muggle money. The woman, a certain Karen Straff, looked at it in surprise.

" Excuse me?" she had asked. " You can't just pay for it in cash."

" Why not?"

" You're under aged! You must be over the age of sixteen to purchase flights with us," she had tried to explain.

" But I need to get to Mexico, my mum's there!" the girl had complained sounding desperate. Karen had felt momentarily sorry for her, but guidelines were guidelines and she was up for promotion soon. She couldn't go breaking the rules now.

" I'm sorry Miss Malfoy, but I can't help you unless you have a parent or guardian present…" This is when Leshia had suddenly got to her feet and angrily started demanding that she put her on the flight. Her outburst was scaring the other customers away and several left the shop muttering about 'strange girls' and 'what on earth would she want to go to Mexico at this time of year for?'

It was a matter of chance that Draco happened to be passing and heard snippets of their conversation.

" Excuse me?" he said quickly, and the old couple turned around.

" Yes love?" the old woman asked kindly.

" I'm sorry, but I happened to overhear your conversation. Have you seen a blonde girl, about this high, planning to run away to Mexico?" he asked, holding his hand up half way up his chest. The old gentleman smiled.

" Yours is she?" he chuckled. Draco nodded with a tired look.

" She's up there in First Choice Travel," the lady explained and she briefly reached out and squeezed his arm tightly. " Good luck with that one." Draco nodded gratefully and hurried on, reaching the travel shop and glancing through the window to see Leshia was on her feet arguing angrily with a bewildered looking woman and an officially dressed muggle man, who looked as though he were trying to get rid of her. Inhaling slowly, Draco set his face angrily pushed the door to the shop open. Nobody paid him any attention as all eyes were trained on his daughter, who was providing some decent entertainment he had to admit.

" Well what one earth would _you_ people know about efficient travel? You're completely out of…" Leshia was telling the bewildered muggles spitefully, when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

" That's enough Leshia, let's go," Draco said sounding so powerful that the muggles turned to look at him with wide eyes. Leshia's shoulders dropped and she closed her eyes slowly. How had he found her so quickly?

" I'm not going until they get me a ticket to Mexico," Leshia muttered sounding drained.

" You're not going to Mexico," Draco said even more forcefully.

" Yes I am! I'm going to find mum and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

" She doesn't want to be found Leshia," Draco said coldly, not wanting their private business to spread around muggle London. " Now let's go." He tried to drag her out, but she was resisting.

" No. You can't make me," she complained and struggled free, finally spinning round and looking up at Draco with a cold expression. Draco slowly exhaled and leaned close, looking so angry that everyone in the shop wondered whether the young girl was dim-witted not to be quivering under such a look.

" Yes I can," he said slowly. " I'm still your father, and you will do as I say." Leshia looked so wretched that some of the women excused her behaviour. She was obviously a very disturbed young lady. " Now come on." Taking her under the arm Draco led her towards the door. " I'm sorry for the disturbance," he said at the door.

" She left this," Karen suddenly called out, holding up the wad of money. Draco shook his head.

" Keep it." With this he marched Leshia out of the shop and straight home without a word. Once they reached the house Draco let Leshia go and braced himself for an angry tirade that never came. She was staring up at him distantly.

" You're not going to stop me you know," she said sounding scarily mature.

" Watch me," Draco said firmly and he strode over to the bureau, taking out the three passports and holding his wand to them. Leshia's eyes went a little wider, as though she wanted to stop him, but didn't believe he would actually do it.

" You wouldn't," she said airily. With a silent incantation the passports suddenly burst into flame, and Draco dropped them to the ground leaving them to turn brown and crisp on the beautiful rug. Leshia stared at them silently feeling herself loose a little control.

" You think that's going to stop me?" she said looking up and shaking her head.

" Well what are you going to do Leshia? You can't apparate, you can't take a broom all the way to Mexico, there are no portkeys that I'm aware of. What exactly is it that you plan to do?" Draco asked slowly, putting emphasis on every word. Leshia's brow lowered in anger.

" I hate you," she repeated for the second time in her life.

" I know you do, what do you want, a medal?" her father exclaimed, his voice breaking. Leshia glared at him more severely and turned on heel stomping up the stairs. Loud noise ensued, when she slammed her door so hard flakes of paint fell down in the kitchen, which was followed by the sound of some obnoxious Witches girl band that blasted out from her radio. Cauldron Chicks was a hit success with most youngsters, but Leshia and Draco had a grudge against the band – Draco because it was headed up by Pansy Parkinson, and Leshia because she hated everything Draco hated. With her turnaround in personality, that would probably explain why she was now blearing it out and singing along hoarsely at the top of her voice.

" How does she even know the bloody words?" Draco grumbled as he sat down in the kitchen, little flakes of paint flittering down onto his head.

" Master?" Tally asked sounding a little timid. Draco made a deep sound from his throat to show he was listening. " Would Master like Tally to bring Miss Malfoy down for dinner?" The little elf looked terrified at the prospect of doing so and was extremely relieved when Draco shook his head.

" No, if she wants to starve then let her," he sighed and leaned forward, looking at his paint splattered dinner, which had long gone cold.

" Let Tally heat it up master!" Tally squeaked in alarm as Draco reached for his fork, but Draco batted her grasping hands away.

" I just don't care anymore."

XXX

Draco sank into such a depression that he didn't even start showing up for dinner anymore. He kept to his study, going over the secretive papers he'd been receiving all week, and when he was sighted by Leshia he normally had his nose buried in a newspaper looking thoughtful. Every now and then Draco would hear hurried footsteps up and down the stairs and then the door slamming. So he guessed Leshia was going about and doing as she pleased, but what she was doing he had no idea and it hurt him so badly. They had been so close and now they were like strangers to each other. He'd let Hermione down, and this was one of the hardest things to deal with.

Christmas came and went with nothing to mark its doing so. No tree and no presents. Tally tried to cook a nice meal, but neither Draco nor Leshia showed up for it. The days were blurring together, and the only thing of any significance that happened was that one night, when Draco was to be found in his study he heard muffled sobs. Frowning he looked to his door and saw the shadow of a person at his door. The door handle started to turn, but then with pattering footsteps the shadow disappeared. What had happened to make Leshia come to seek him out in tears he couldn't know, but that evening he'd gone to sleep with a smile on his face.

Before too long it was time to board the Hogwarts Express back to school and Leshia was more than happy to see her friends again and get away from that batty houself Tally. On the train Leshia found an empty compartment and sat eagerly awaiting company, but for a full hour no one came to sit with her. Feeling extremely dejected she got to her feet and padded up the corridor. Finally she came across Rodeo and Parys who were sitting with some boys from first year and they greeted her exuberantly, but there was nowhere for her to sit.

Feeling like a prize fool Leshia continued on her way until she stumbled across Katie and Rachel talking happily eating sweets from the trolley.

" Leesh!" Rachel cheered a little guiltily. Leshia managed a small smile.

" How was your Christmas?" she asked, trying to avoid Katie's eyes.

" Oh great fun, everyone was at the burrow, Katie and I had to cram in with Sarah and Amy and like a million of our other cousins, but it was really fun…" she drifted off when she saw the dejected look on Leshia's face. " Oh Leesh, come in. Sit down."

" No I…" Leshia trailed off and looked now from Rachel to Katie. God, they looked even more alike somehow and suddenly she realised if it came down to it, she'd never win Rachel. They were family, blood is thicker than water. Without thinking she opened her mouth to say something to Katie, but her pride was too great and she stepped back wishing she could just be normal and have fun with her friends. These girls were her 'sisters', they were all close, why was she ruining things?

" I'm sorry," she uttered, her eyes fixed on the ground and she darted out again rushing to her empty carriage where she shut the curtains and sank down in her seat, her heart racing.

'See,' a small satisfied voice came. Leshia shut her eyes and felt tears prickling her nose. 'You've alienated everyone, and still your miserable.' Feeling her resolve weakening, realising it wasn't too late to fix this mess Leshia was nearly on her feet, but then a picture of her mother flashed before her mind's eye and she sank down again, filled with renewed fervour to find her. It was an obsession, and she couldn't shake it. She _had_ to find her mother.

XXX

Over the following days everyone watched in dismay as both Leshia and her father suffered. They were mere shells of what they once were and no one knew what to do to stop them on their slippery decline into further depression. As the first Saturday drew by Rodeo, in an attempt to cheer Leshia up, but also because he'd promised came bounding down the stairs with a big sack full of oblong objects. All the first years were sitting in the common room working on a group project they'd been set by Professor Sprout – tending to baby Hillipups (tiny pear shaped half plant half beasts in varying shades of red and green with little legs and arms and mouths, when they grew older they lost their legs and set their roots down, but for now, they were blindly stumbling around and crying miserably). The children's task was to keep the little babies alive and happy and were busy trying to feed them with pipettes.

" It won't sit still, how am I supposed to feed it with a pipette? One drop is bigger than its entire mouth…" Rachel began crossly.

" She Rach, it's a she," Katie corrected and expertly fed her little boy Hillipup with ease. Rachel glared at her friend.

" How can you tell?"

" Weren't you listening? The red ones are boys and the green ones are girls!" Rachel pulled a face as Katie bent down to her Hillipup, and across the potting tray makeshift nursery she had expected Leshia to smile, but Rachel was surprised to see Leshia crumpling her face slightly and looking away. Things were worse than they thought, so it came as rather good timing that Rodeo bounded in and dropped his large bag just short of the nursery.

" Careful!" everyone in the class shouted, startling the little Hillipups (at the same time wondering how on earth they could be startled, did they have ears?).

" Oh calm down, who cares about a bunch of walking crying pears?" Rodeo chuckled.

" Easy for you to say, yours just sleeps," Parys grumbled indicating the fattest Hillipup of the bunch who was slumped on one side sleeping in a little soil den.

" Are you sure that thing isn't dead?" Leshia asked and she poked it with her pipette. It gave a lazy sounding cry, before burrowing deeper under the soil. Those closest to it could have sworn they heard muffled little snores coming from the soil.

" What's in the bag?" Sam Thomas asked curiously, leaning over so much that the pipette went straight down his Hillipup's throat, which startled the poor little thing into vomiting bright pink goo all over the pipette head, before bursting into wails of anguish.

" I thought you'd never ask," Rodeo said triumphantly and from his bag he retrieved a shoe with a blade attached to the bottom. " This," he began. " Is a skate. My dad's got loads because the sponsors love to unload gear on him, so I brought a whole load along so I can show you what I've been going on about all term!" The children grinned gleefully, but then were reminded of their temporary parenting duties when two Hillipups walked right into each other, bouncing off one another and then bursting into wails.

" Let's just wait for them to go to sleep," Rodeo said and they carried the tray to the girls' dormitory, putting it out of the draft and out of direct sunlight. What followed was an amusing scene where they tried all manner of ways to get their Hillipups to sleep. Some tried lullabies, the others make makeshift slings out of old socks and tried rocking them to sleep (this option resulted in very pink stained socks) and finally they tried turning their backs on them. Nothing worked.

" Ouw!" Leshia suddenly yelped diving back from the nursery tray. " The bloody thing bit me, look!" She held up a blood stained finger as proof.

" How?" Parys asked sounding bewildered. " They don't have teeth!"

" Well it must have a beak or something, because that hurts," Leshia grumbled. " I'd only been trying to stroke it."

" Wait that's it!" Katie exclaimed and she reached into her satchel pulling out a feather, while everyone watched in amazement, she tickled the Hillipup on its back and soon it was snoring soundly. A mad scrabbled ensued as everyone used the feather to send their Hillipups off to sleep and finally they had some peace and quiet.

" I've never been so happy that you're a swot!" Rachel said happily as they traipsed down the stairs in their thick jumpers and scarves, heading out to the lake.

" I just listen Rach, there's a difference," Katie countered grumpily.

" Here someone take these from me," Rodeo called appearing with several long stick like objects. Everyone refrained from asking what everything did until they were sitting on a bench beside the large frozen lake. Rodeo dolled out the skates and made sure that everyone had a pair that fitted for the most part.

" Right, maybe we should see if you can actually skate first," Rodeo said with a grin to the wizarding kids. Muggleborns and half muggles managed okay, but the second Leshia and the others stepped foot on the ice they toppled over and they didn't improve for the first hour they were out there in the cold.

" Why would you do this for fun?" Leshia demanded through clattering feet as she sat up on her knees, exhausted from falling over the whole time. Rodeo laughed and left her stranded in the middle of the lake and easily skated back, doing little tricks on his way.

" Show off," Leshia grumbled and she climbed to her feet, edging forward slowly and shakily.

_Craaaaccckkk_

Leshia stopped and looked around. What on earth was that? Nothing.

" Come on Leesh hurry up, we're getting a game going!" Rodeo called from up the lake.

" I'm coming, hold your horses!" Leshia called back and started edging forward again.

_Craaaaccckkk croooakkk_

Again Leshia stopped and looked around wildly, that hadn't been her imagination, the ice was groaning and complaining. Mind racing Leshia edged forward again as the ice protested loudly.

" Oh no," she whispered as ahead of her a large crack formed, snaking its way towards her. Panic struck in and without knowing what else to do she started running, skate clad and all across the ice, but she wasn't fast enough and from below her the ice gave way and she went clattering into the freezing waters. Her horrified cries drew the attention of the others, who turned around to see that Leshia had disappeared.

" Where is she?" Rodeo said with a frown.

" Help!" her mangled cry came and then an arm rose from the ice.

" Oh my God she's fallen through!" Rodeo yelled to the others and he started racing off to help her, jumping forward and sliding on his front across the ice to the hole where Leshia was no longer to be seen.

" Leshia!" Katie and Rachel were screaming, and after having kicked off their skates, were running towards Rodeo.

" Get down, you'll break more off," he yelled to them and they mimicked his action, crawling forward on their stomachs.

" Where is she?" Katie cried and tears streamed down her face.

" I don't know, she's gone under," Rodeo cried out in panic. For a moment there was an eerie silence as the wind swept powdery snow onto the trio of panicked children.

" Leesh," Rachel whimpered and Katie wrapped her arm around her. Beside them Rodeo was rubbing furiously at his eyes, trying to fight the tears away.

" Leshia!" they heard Parys scream and suddenly there was a crash in the ice and he was down on the ground pulling a struggling Leshia from the waters. " Help!" he cried desperately to the others. Within moments they'd joined him and with the four of them they managed to pull their frozen friend from the waters below.

" Leshia!" Katie and Rachel cried, wrapping their arms around her. Leshia herself was gasping at the air, shaking from the cold and the shock.

" Leshia you nearly died," Katie cried and she pulled back with tears streaming down her face. They caught eyes for a moment and there was no more anger, there was nothing but love and friendship. It warmed Leshia's heart and wordlessly they made up.

" Stupid muggle games," Leshia joked through chattering teeth, and everyone laughed sporadically, the adrenalin still running through them.

" Come on, you have to get to the hospital wing," Rodeo said and the others helped her to her feet and slowly they made their way back to the castle. By the time they reached the entrance hall Leshia had turned slightly blue from the cold, so it came as a shock to Professor McGonagall when they traipsed in.

" My Goodness, Miss Malfoy, what's happened?" she gasped and hurried them towards the hospital wing.

" I fell through the ice professor," Leshia chattered, her jaw vibrating with cold at lightning speeds.

" What were you doing on the lake and what on earth are those things on your feet?" she demanded.

" They're skates…" Leshia began, but suddenly they rounded the corner and came across Professor Dumbledore walking along having a serious hushed conversation with none-other than Draco.

" Leshia," Draco stammered when he saw his daughter. " What happened?" He looked horrified that his daughter once more was suffering.

" She fell through the ice," Rodeo said softly.

" My God…are you all right?" he tried to step closer, to touch her arm, to make sure she was okay, but Leshia pulled away and carried on walking without another word.

" Miss Malfoy!" McGonagall called and rushed after her, with the children in pursuit, leaving Draco with his hand mid reach, his eyes closed. Dumbledore lowered his head and turned to watch Leshia being led away by her entourage and he frowned. It was time for him to intervene.

XXX

Luckily Leshia didn't require a lengthy stay at the hospital wing, and after being forced to consume vast amounts of chocolate and after promising that she would take a warm bath she was free to go. She felt much better as she and her friends walked back to the common room, but before she managed to catch up with them completely she was surprised when Dumbledore appeared in their path once more.

" Leshia," he said kindly. " Could you possible spare an old man some time so as we might chat?"

" Of course Professor," Leshia said reluctantly and she followed him to his office, marvelling at the rotating staircase that lifted them into his circular office. She took one of the cushy seats and looked around herself appreciatively. She'd heard lots of stories of the wonderful things that could be found in the headmaster's office and desperately wanted to time to examine everything, but Dumbledore was taking his seat smiling kindly at the girl. Leshia held his gaze, knowing already what Dumbledore had summoned her here to say. Determined that she wasn't going to sway, no matter what the kindly old man threw at her, she clenched her jaw and gave him an expectant look.

" I trust you have recovered from your accident at the lake?" he said kindly. Leshia nodded quickly.

" I was just on my way to have a hot bath, Madam Pomfry made me promise," Leshia explained.

" She is a very wise woman, I will try not to keep you too long," Dumbledore promised.

" Sir…how long is this going to take?" Leshia asked withy a frown. The age-old headmaster gave her a deep look.

" As long as it takes Leshia," he said softly. With an exasperated sigh Leshia leant back in her chair and looked petulantly at her feet.

" No offence sir, but I don't see how any of this is your business," she said coldly. To her surprise Dumbledore started laughing heartily.

" You are right of course, but I am an old fool and have always had a habit of sticking my nose in where it is not wanted," he said fondly.

" If its not wanted, then why do you do it?"

" Because we don't always know what's best for ourselves Leshia," Dumbledore explained with a twinkle in his kind eyes. " We are so blinded by our own feelings that it takes someone on the outside to tell us what's really before our eyes."

" Is that what you're going to try and do? Tell me what to feel?" Dumbledore shook his head slowly, and there was no lie in his face. The young girl felt slightly better for it and she looked away to where a beautiful Phoenix was regarding her with a tilted head.

" To begin with," Dumbledore began slowly. " I am going to tell you nothing." Leshia looked back to him with a frown, if he wasn't going to say anything then how was he going to try and tell her what to think? Curious, she raised her eyebrows, and Dumbledore smiled at her and then looked down at a large shallow stone basin on the desk in front of him. Leshia frowned at it and looked up questioningly.

" This," Dumbledore began. " Is a pensieve. It as a means by which to examine and pour over memories at your leisure. By the time you reach my age dear girl, you'll notice that your head is so full memories occasionally tend to fall out, and this helps to keep them all in check." Leshia nodded curiously. Her mother had once told her all about pensieves when she was a little girl, but then Leshia's face fell. Memories. That sounded time consuming…and tricky. What was Dumbledore hoping to achieve?

Leshia was starting to get impatient when Dumbledore slowly reached out and placed his wand to his head, after a few moments the tip started to glow white and as he pulled his wand back a sliver of shiny white thread appeared to be attached to the end. He placed it in the basin and moments later a shimmering white swirling cloud appeared. Dumbledore watched as Leshia became entranced in the swirling clouds and smiled.

" Are you ready?" he asked. Leshia quickly looked up at him and frowned.

" What do you mean?" she asked sounding surprised.

" Lean forward, and you'll see," he said sounding so trusting, that after a moment's hesitation she leaned forward. Suddenly she felt a pull on her face and it was as though she was being sucked into the basin. In fright she shut her eyes and only dared to open them when the sensation had finished.

" Did it work?" she asked sounding confused, but the Dumbledore sitting in front of her didn't react to her. He was writing in a large book. " Sir?" Leshia asked louder. Still no response. " Hello?" she suddenly said waving her arm in front of the headmaster. No response, and looking at her hand she noticed that the basin had gone. In fact…lots of things had changed. Professor Dumbledore for that matter looked slightly younger, and was wearing different robes. The desk was arranged differently.

There was a knock at the door and after finished his sentence Dumbledore put down his quill and looked up expectantly.

" Come in," he called and slowly the door opened revealing a familiar blonde face. For a moment Leshia felt betrayed.

" You said we'd be looking at memories! And now _he's_ here?" Still Dumbledore ignored her and her father at the door walked in seemingly not noticing that Leshia was on her feet glaring at him.

" Draco?" Dumbledore seemed surprised, as though he had been expecting someone else. For a moment Leshia faltered and she darted out the way as Draco took a seat opposite the headmaster. Why had he changed clothes? And for that matter, how long had his hair been so long? " Something awful has happened, hasn't it?" the headmaster asked slowly. " To Hermione?" Finally, it dawned on Leshia what had happened and she felt incredibly stupid that it had taken her this long to figure out. She was in one of Dumbledore's memories, and by the looks of it, a terrible one. Back at the table Draco was nodding slowly.

" I'm getting worried, that's why I came…" he said sounding so unsure, so alone. For a moment Leshia felt a pang of pain. She remembered the first few days, when Draco had seemed the most derailed, when it started to be clear that Hermione was missing.

" What's happened Draco?" Dumbledore asked anxiously. Draco shook his head and he gulped.

" She never arrived in LA three days ago, no one's heard from her and there's been strange men hanging around the house," Draco said in a rushed tone. By the serious look on Dumbledore's face, it was clear that this was something to be concerned about at the time. Leshia vaguely remembered severe caution in the years prior to Hermione's disappearance. When strange people were seen around the house they went to a special room in the house with no windows and a hearth, ready for escaping with floo powder should the need arise.

" This is very worrying," Dumbledore said gravely and by the pallor of his skin, that much was obvious.

" I just can't imagine…I can't bear it. I told her not to go! But she was so sure of herself…so…" Draco's hands started trembling and he crossed his arms across his chest, shoving his hands into his armpits in an attempt to stop them. A strange agonised sound escaped his throat. " You have to help me Albus, please?"

" Of course Draco." For a moment Draco's stricken face calmed and he looked briefly to his watch. " Yes you must go."

" I'm sorry, but I've left Leshia with the Potters and every second she's away from me I fear that they'll get to her too," Draco stammered and he climbed jerkily to his feet. " Please help us Albus, I can't imagine life without Hermione…I can't imagine my daughter growing up without her mother…"

The memory started to disappear and Leshia found herself back in the present, staring across the table at her own headmaster. She forced a neutral expression onto her face and didn't react when Dumbledore smiled at her. He started to load up his wand with another memory and Leshia looked away to the window, wondering how long this was going to take and how many of these memories she was going to be able to withstand. As the basin filled again Dumbledore raised his hands as though saying 'after you'. With a sigh Leshia reluctantly leaned forward and tried to keep her stomach settled as she was dragged forward again into yet another memory.

Opening her eyes Leshia was surprised to find herself in her kitchen back home, sitting at the dining table sat Draco as she remembered him from before their departure to Hogwarts. Gone was the long hair to be replaced with easy-to-manage short hair, a permanent frown on his forehead, morning stubble always adorning his face, and looking wired from working all the time, this was Draco at his most serious, this is how miserable he was before he'd become a teacher and the spirit had returned to his eyes. Two cups of coffee sat amongst the strewn Ministry papers and although Draco looked pleased to see his old friend, his eyes kept darting towards the papers, as though taking a coffee break was going to ruin his schedule – back then, it almost always did.

" I trust Leshia is enjoying her holiday at the burrow?" Albus asked conversationally. Draco managed a small smile and for a moment his face lit up at the sound of Leshia's name.

" Yes," he said heartily. " At least I'd imagine so, as I've only received a brief letter telling me that we should move to the country. Too busy to write I'd imagine, they've just been holding quidditch competitions." He looked wistful, as though he wished he could drop everything and join in.

" You did not wish to join them?" Dumbledore asked curiously. Draco managed a noncommittal shrug.

" So many Weasleys in one place, I'd imagine the noise would drive me mad after an hour, let alone a whole week," he tried, but he wasn't convincing. The obvious reason was on the table all around them for all too see. He was so swamped with work that taking an unplanned coffee break threw a spanner into the works. A week was simply out of the question. After retiring from the Auror department Draco had not expected to find a job that was as time consuming. He was wrong. As one with so much experience in the dark arts and dark circles, he was high up in the research branch of the Auror department. He still had to work twenty hours a day, but at least he could work from home most of the time, and he didn't run the risk of losing his life just by going to work.

" I see I have caught you at a bad time," Dumbledore was continuing. Draco tried to shake his head, but it wouldn't behave and he ended up making a strange circular motion with his head.

" Sort of, we're a man short and all the extra works seems to be coming my way," Draco explained glancing despairingly at the table. " When Leshia gets back I'll never be able to find her under all this paperwork." Dumbledore smiled.

" It is because of Leshia that I have come, I have her letter," he said taking from his pocket the large Hogwarts acceptance letter that Leshia had been looking forward to getting since she was four. Draco smiled and looked away to a far point in the distance that only he could see.

" Is it time already?" he asked, sounding truly relaxed for the first time. " God, times flies by doesn't it…" Dumbledore was nodding, seeing pain in Draco that even Draco himself hadn't realised was there until just now. He glanced back at the document in front of him and pushed it away soberly. " Albus…I've wasted the time we had together. I should have been there for her, instead, work consumed me."

" You have wasted nothing Draco," Dumbledore said softly. " The bond you and Leshia share is stronger than any I have seen of its kind."

" But now she's going…when she's gone, I'll have no one left," Draco was starting to sound aggrieved.

" Draco," Dumbledore suddenly said with such purpose that Draco looked up at him curiously. " If there was a way for you to hang on to Leshia a little while longer, would you take it, even though it meant leaving all this behind?" Draco lowered his head. Forget his quest for repentance? After all, that is why he put in such hard hours, to make up for the sins in his youth. But Leshia, his little girl. There was a way he could hang on a little longer, help her through these hard years of her life. Suddenly, his mind was made up, and he sat up looking as though the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.

" Yes…"

Once more everything went white and Leshia found herself in her seat again. Without any words of explanation Dumbledore was already getting another memory ready and Leshia felt a sense of extreme discomfort. She didn't like this. She hated to see her father vulnerable, but Dumbledore was ready and he looked to her, sterner this time.

" I don't want to," she said softly.

" But you must." There was no argument, she had to obey and with a heavy sigh she leaned forward and got the shock of her life when her eyes cleared of the spinning. It took her a moment to get used to the dark of the hospital wing, but there, right in front of her lay the unconscious mangled body of herself. This must have been that terrible night. Draco was sat beside her present self, his chin resting on his hands, staring blankly at his daughter's body. Across from them stood Dumbledore, looking gravely down at Leshia's unconscious form.

" Will she recover Albus?" Draco asked barely in a whisper, as though the pain at seeing his daughter like this had stolen from him the ability to speak. Dumbledore was looking grave.

" We do not know," was all he said.

" I can't bear to lose her," Draco croaked and his voice contorted as though a silent sob had risen in his throat.

" I know."

" She's all I have left…" Draco trailed off and hung his head, wrapping his hands around the back of his neck. " And her mother doesn't want to know. Albus, I've been hiding it from her, I can't bear the thought of crushing her again. Hermione, she's told me to stop writing…how can I tell her? How can I break her heart all over again?"

" Be truthful," Dumbledore replied calmly. Draco closed his eyes and hung his head back.

" But the truth hurts," he finally said sounding so pained that Leshia looked away feeling her eyes stinging. The single tear that slid out from under one of Draco's closed lids went unnoticed and soon the memory faded.

" Professor please," Leshia said strongly when they were back in the present. Dumbledore raised one eyebrow at her curiously. " What's the point in showing me this? I don't want to see." Without heeding her Dumbledore filled the basin with yet another memory and Leshia stared at it angrily, she started to rise from her chair, but when the basin was full Dumbledore looked up at her with a very stern look.

" Sit down," he said simply and helplessly Leshia obeyed, leaning forward to this new memory. Fearful of what pain it was going to reveal next.

As the spinning stopped Leshia found herself in Dumbledore's office once more. Draco sat hunched over on the seat beside her, he looked drained, this cannot have been so long ago.

" She's not getting over it Albus, it's been a month. She hates me," Draco was explaining miserably. Dumbledore shook his head.

" She is experiencing grief that she never truly resolved all those years ago when her mother was cruelly taken away from her," he said in a soothing tone. " She does not hate you, and she will come to learn this in time."

" But I can't go on like this," Draco cried out and he dropped his head into his hand. " I can't stand by and have her ignore me Albus, it's too hard. I'd rather be somewhere else, anywhere else…Albus I'm thinking of resigning." Dumbledore looked visibly saddened by this, and yet he managed to nod.

" You must do what you feel is best. Will you return to the ministry?"

" Maybe…I might not stay in Britain, the pain here is too great, the memories…" He trailed off and at his side Leshia gasped. Her father was thinking of leaving? A lightning bolt of terror shook her resolve. She couldn't have her dad leaving her and going off to some distant land when she might only see him a few weeks of the year.

" No dad!" she cried out in the memory, but this Draco couldn't hear her. The memory started to fade and as she snapped back to the present Leshia was looking at Dumbledore wide eyed.

" Just one more," the headmaster said softly, filling up the basin slowly while Leshia willed him to speed up. She needed to see…she needed to know. She practically dived face first in when Dumbledore pulled his wand back and found herself back in the study with the snow falling outside. Draco and Dumbledore were getting to their feet and with a pang Leshia realised this memory had taken place today as both Draco and Dumbledore were wearing what she had seen them in earlier.

" I'm sorry to see you go Draco," Dumbledore was sighing. Leshia's jaw dropped. He was leaving. He was leaving for definite, and it was all her fault.

'Now you have no one,' her annoying conscience whispered and try as she might, there was no way to look around this, it was true!

" Dad," she tried meekly, running to catch up with the men as they walked out of the office and down the stairs.

" I've been given a job in China," Draco was saying as they walked along the corridor. " It's not going to be the same, but there's no memories to haunt me there." Leshia felt tears stinging her eyes. China!

" You will be sorely missed Draco," Dumbledore said firmly. " Not only by your friends, but by your pupils. We haven't had so much success with a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher since Remus left. The children have responded to you Draco, they love you." Draco sighed and shook his head.

" There's only one child that I care about, and she hates me." Leshia felt rotten to the core.

'Stupid idiot!'

" She doesn't hate you…" Dumbledore tried, but at this moment they rounded a corner and Leshia saw herself and had a fright. Wow, she really had been blue that morning, no wonder Draco had been so concerned for her. As she watched the replay from earlier Leshia was amazed by the way her earlier self was behaving. As the scene played out she watched her father's face and it fell more and more until finally earlier-Leshia and the others stalked off leaving Draco head hanging and eyes closed.

" I leave tonight Albus. I'm a broken man…there's nothing for me here anymore."

XXXXXXXX

End of Part III

Don't have the time nor the net connection handy to search for the accurate exchange rate sorry if it's wrong. And my Spanish is way off (been a long time since GCSE I tell you), but then again I'm assuming Leshia's would be too

Reviews are more than welcome!


	4. Part Four

Thank you so much for the reviews :) you're all too kind! Your feedback is very valuable to me, and I'm happy to hear you're receiving this the way I intended it to be read. Thank you so much! Enjoy…

**Part IV**

Leshia had never moved so fast as she did when Dumbledore finally gave her leave to go. With her heart in her mouth she careened down the corridors until finally she slid to a halt outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts study. Without knocking she burst in, and skidded to a halt on the now rugless floor.

" No," she gasped, her eyes taking in the lifeless chambers, with their empty dusty shelves, and pictureless walls.

'Too late…'

" I'm warning you! Shut up!" she hissed feeling tears stinging her eyes. For a moment despair washed over her, was she too late? Had she pushed away the only family she had left? And for what? Some ridiculous preteen crusade that she was no longer so sure of herself.

'Oh stop feeling sorry for yourself and go after him!' For a moment her fears ebbed a little, and without stopping to think she darted back into the corridor, sprinting with all her might to the main entrance. She found it unlocked – a fact she didn't wonder about at the time, as it ought to have been – and hurtled out into the grounds. The main gates up ahead stood slightly ajar and once more, the girl didn't wonder why this should be so. The road beyond was deserted and dark, and had this been any other night Leshia would have cowed to her fear and not gone anywhere near it, but this night was different. This night she had to rescue what was left of the family she'd set on self-destruct.

Having taken the boats from the station at Hogsmeade, Leshia wasn't entirely sure she was going the right way, but after hearing that the small village was down the road from Hogwarts, she had no choice but to carry on the way she was going. It helped that the road didn't branch or fork, and soon the lights of a village were looming in the distance. Inside, the many facets of Leshia's personality, those responsible for her inner voices, were performing veritable victory dances. She was going to make it!

The cold licked at her cheeks, and her ears ached with the cold winds, her chest felt as though it were on fire with the exertion of sprinting in the cold dark night, but she didn't care, about any of it. Finally she rounded the corner and there, right in front of her, lay the station. A train sat wheezing and groaning on its single platform, steam billowing into the clear cold night's sky.

The girl tried to speed up to catch it before it pulled away, but she hadn't the strength after her ordeal earlier that afternoon. Her lungs were too constricted, she couldn't fight for the oxygen her aching muscles needed, and much to her distress, she started to slow down. Ahead of her across the bank of soil, the train was groaning louder and suddenly the wheels started to move on their pistons, it was slipping from her grasp.

" No!" she yelled at it, falling against the fence that separated she and the train she had fought so hard to catch. She had no more energy, she had nothing, and as she clung to the railings for support, her head swimming with tears, the train slipped away howling into the night.

For several minutes the station remained shrouded in the steam the complaining train had left in its wake. As it cleared the platform came into view, revealing a lone figure, sat hunched over on a trunk, his head in his hands. An intense feeling of shame washed over Leshia as she recognised the broken form of her father. There was no room for the joy she ought to be feeling for finding him still within her reach. For the longest time she clung to the fence, watching as he shook his head in his hands. For a terrifying moment she thought he was crying, she had never seen him cry, even when her mother was declared missing, he remained firm. A pillar of emotional resilience, she couldn't bare to see him cry. And yet there he sat, shaking slightly, mourning his lost family.

" Dad," she tried to call, but her voice was lost on the cruel winds. Unmoving Draco still sat in his despair, so with an aching body Leshia dragged herself to her feet and looked to where the railway bridge stood only meters away. Her father didn't notice her until she edged into the corner of his vision. In a start he looked up, weary of people creeping up on him, but when he saw who it was his face dropped forward slightly in shock and emotion.

" Leshia?" he asked slowly, clearly believing himself to be going mad and not quite understanding that she was in fact standing before him. Leshia felt ashamed that tears were trickling down her face.

" Dad…" she managed sounding tormented. The sight of his daughter in such clear agony was too much and with a shaking arm he reached out to her. She was at his side within seconds and they remained in silence as the father held his daughter tightly in the crook of his arm, taking strength from her presence.

" You can't leave me," she whispered eventually.

" You hate me," he countered sounding amazed. " My presence here has been ruining your life…"

" But it hasn't dad, please!" Leshia cried and she shook slightly. Draco held her tighter. What on earth had triggered this about-turn? What the hell was going on? " Please don't go to China, please." Her pain was unbearable to hear, and even though she'd caused him immeasurable heartbreak these last few months, he hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head.

" Are you telling me that you don't hate me?" he asked pulling back, his expression so hopeful that the spirit came back into his eyes. Leshia shook her head quickly, her expression pathetic.

" No, I don't hate you at all," she cried softly. " I don't want you to go. I don't want to lose you too." Draco gulped away a lump in his throat and slowly reached out a hand to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. Before he knew what was going on Leshia had lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his chest, crying quietly into his shirt.

" I won't go," he said softly.

" You won't?" Leshia's muffled hopeful reply came.

" No." Had his intention been to cheer her up then he would have been alarmed to hear her start crying even more, but knowing his daughter more than any other in the world, Draco knew she was finally letting go of the grief that have evidently been building up in her since she was six years old. Instead he wrapped his arms powerfully around her and hugged her so tightly she almost squeaked in protest, but didn't move away.

" You've been such an idiot," he finally uttered softly into her hair.

" I know, I'm so sorry," his daughter managed, her tears subsiding. They didn't let each other go for a full ten minutes. Finally Leshia gave one almighty sniff – though her tears had long subsided – and she pulled away looking up at her father through doleful eyes.

" I'm so sorry dad," she whispered. " For everything!" Draco thought of all the pain she'd caused him and found himself saying,

" It's okay." How on earth it was okay, he didn't know, but all he was sure of was that he had his daughter back. After three months of anguish everything was going to be alright again.

" You were really going to go to China?" Leshia asked with wide eyes, still scared that he might change his mind. Draco nodded.

" I thought you hated me," he said with a shrug. " There's no point in me sticking around if the only reason I'm here wants me to go away." Leshia frowned and inhaled shakily.

" But you didn't get on the train," she said sounding confused. Draco smiled wryly and shook his head.

" Wrong train," he chuckled.

" I'll never say anything horrible again dad, I promise," she said vehemently. Draco grinned and nodded.

" I'm sure you will, but I'm also sure you won't mean it," he said and as though remembering the torment of the last few months: seeing her suffering, nearly losing her on three occasions, he pulled her into another embrace.

" I can't believe you nearly got yourself killed three times," he said sternly, but he was smiling. " What on earth were you doing on the lake with two pieces of metal strapped to your feet?" Leshia grinned and they remained sat on he trunk for many hours, while Leshia told him all about her adventures.

XXX

By the time Draco was walking Leshia back to her common room it was as though their awful feud had never happened. Draco was still reeling from having his daughter back, that he hadn't challenged her on any of the serious topics: the identity of her assailants, Hermione, and her behaviour over Christmas for starters. They'd simply caught up and now were right back on track.

" Thanks dad," Leshia said softly as they came to a halt outside the fat lady.

" Anytime," Draco said with a grin and he leaned down and kissed the top of her head before heading up the corridor again.

" Oh yeah dad?" Leshia called after him.

" Yeah?"

" Can we sack Tally, she was on awful form over Christmas." Draco's laughter warmed Leshia's heart and he looked over his shoulder and grinned at her.

" I'll think about it," he chuckled before she turned on the fat lady with a truly happy smile and disappeared into her dormitory. The moment she walked in everyone sensed that things were back to normal and several small smiles were passed all across the common room. Katie and Rachel were sitting in the window box with Fifi, Marmite and Pooperscooper (Katie, Leshia and Rachel's Hillipups respectively) trying to stop them from fighting with one and other – although it was very humorous, as the podgy tiny pear-like creatures would charge into one and other knocking each other off their wobbly little legs, it wasn't very good for their self-esteem apparently. Hillipups suffered severely from low self-esteem.

When their eyes fell on their friend, they could tell she'd worked everything out of her system and they were so happy they leapt from the sill and threw their arms around their friend squealing joyously.

" I'm just so happy," they were still exclaiming ten minutes later when all three of them had settled into the window box. Leshia grinned at them and shook her head.

" You guys are sad," she chuckled lovingly and bent down to the Hillipup tray. " Aren't they marmite? They're sad, can you say sad?" The Hillipup, for one amazingly scary moment, looked like it was gearing itself up to say something, but in the end it only burped loudly before keeling over into a deep sleep. The girls hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.

XXX

By February everything had thankfully settled back into normalcy. Leshia gave up on her crusade to find her mother, and instead mourned her secretly every night. To all pretences and purposes she was back to her old self, but a part of her had withered, the part, which believed that everyone was intrinsically good, and only ever lost their way.

Needless to say, the girls all passed their Hillipup project, but only just. Rachel lost marks for her Hillipup being socially incompetent, at the best of times it was trying to but into its peers and siblings, and at the worst it would sit alone in a corner, its back on the others, making odd muttering noises that sounded like whistles. Professor Sprout's verdict was that Pooperscooper was suffering from an irreversibly low self-esteem, and that Rachel should have lavished more praise and affection on her. However, Pooperscooper was healthy and a good size (all thanks to Rachel constantly shoving the pipette down the poor things' throat), so she didn't fail the project.

Katie lost marks for her Hillipup being too clingy. Fifi couldn't manage on his own. Constantly sidling up to the others and snuggling up against them, the other Hillipup's ignored him and always tried to avoid coming across his path whenever possible. According to Professor Sprout Katie had stroked him one too many times, and should have been less of a clingy 'parent' herself. The girls had tried telling Katie that having Fifi's small tray in bed next to her was a mistake, but she wouldn't listen. Katie only passed on the same grounds as Rachel. Fifi was healthy and fat.

Leshia's Hillipup mark was a nuisance to her. Marmite had been perfectly socially adept, neither violent nor clingy. He had a great self-esteem and was very popular among the other Hillipups, but she lost severe marks for her Hillipup being scrawny and underdeveloped. Leshia tried desperately to explain she'd fed it enough, equally as much as Katie, and that it must be Marmite's own fault that he wasn't putting on weight, but Professor Sprout hadn't listened and Leshia had received the worst mark out of all apparently for failing to offer the most basic of care.

At the end of the lesson when the children had potted their Hillipups for the last time in their grown-up pots, Leshia stalked out ahead of the others feeling hard-done-by. Her friends rushed to catch up with her and as a close-knit group the Gryffindor first years headed off to their next lesson, Defence Against the Dark Arts.

" I don't get it, why should I get bad marks just because my Hillipup is naturally skinny?" Leshia grumbled. " I fed it just as much as you did!"

" Maybe it's because you weren't a very good role model," Rachel suggested cheerfully, happy at last to be free from Hillipup duty. Leshia cast her a fond glare. " I mean look at you, you're a scrawny titch!"

" Exactly!" Leshia explained. " I'm living proof that you can eat and eat and eat, and still not grow. I should ask her if she's going to give my dad poor marks for raising me because I'm small!"

" I'm going to miss Fifi," Katie sighed, causing the others to laugh raucously, assuming she was joking, but when they saw she was deadly serious the laughter died away.

" Katie, you can't be serious," Parys complained. She however, nodded, her features arranged into a doleful expression.

" I'm so happy to be rid of mine, it smelled, I kept waking up in the middle of the night and my bedside table would be covered in pink goo," Ashley explained.

" Hey yours too?" Rodeo laughed. " I think towards the end they were practising projectile vomiting." The others laughed once more.

" Yeah one day I woke up and it was all splattered on my pillow," Charlie Daiton complained through his mirth. The Gryffindors were still laughing when they rounded the corner onto the Defence Against the Dark Arts corridor, where a pack of surly looking Slytherins stood waiting. Not caring that the ferocious looking children glared harder as they approached, the Gryffindors got in line, still reliving the worst bits of their Hillipup experiences.

" You guys are so sad," Allseyer finally muttered petulantly.

" What are you going on about now?" Rachel asked tiredly. Allseyer glared at her.

" You are all so sad for actually looking after those stupid things," he said with a shake of his head, as though in disbelief. " We fed ours to Robin Pancer's snake, then order new ones from London just a few days ago. Sprout never noticed the difference." Katie let out a gasp and held her hands up to her mouth at the horror of all those little Hillipup lives, but Leshia and several of her friends shook their heads, with big grins on their faces.

" Oh really, Robin Pancer's snake?" Leshia asked. Allseyer nodded fiercely, getting worried by the knowing smiles on the Gryffindors' faces.

" Are you calling me a liar?" he finally demanded taking a step closer to Leshia in a threatening manner. Leshia held her ground.

" Yes actually," she said simply. " Other than the fact that I highly doubt Robin Pancer has a snake, you obviously don't remember that snake's are deadly afraid of Hillipups as they're poisonous to them. That pink goo they vomit up, the same pink goo that's been splattered all over your clothes for two weeks, it burns a snake's skin and they won't go near." The Gryffindors doubled over in laughter at the outraged look on Allseyer's face, while he spluttered for another excuse.

" I meant to say cat, it was a cat!" he hissed, but it was drowned out by the laughter of the others. " Right that's it Malfoy, you're dead!" he finally snapped ferociously and he took a step forward, reaching for his wand.

" That's enough," a dangerous voice sounded from down the corridor and everyone spun around, hands darting towards their tucked in shirts to make sure they were presentable. " Allseyer, my office at five-o clock." Leshia grinned at her friends as Draco made his way down to the door. That unreadable unpredictable wild spirit was back in his eyes and everyone was weary of what he would do. Seeing the tucked in shirts though, Draco pushed the door open and the class swarmed in. They all took went to take their seats, but stopped a little short when they saw the parchments lying on their desks. Essays. Last week they had submitted essays all about the history of dementors with the ministry of magic. It had been hard to dig up information on the dementors used in Azkaban back in the olden days, and their revolt during the war. The ministry was keeping this information under wraps and the girls had had to rely on word of mouth. Luckily there was no one as experiences as Katie's dad, so they'd spend the week frantically sending owls with questions.

Leshia glanced at her mark and felt a little pang of annoyance when she saw E. Her father had scribbled at the end:

_Little more thought, little less regurgitation_

" I know this was a hard essay," Draco was saying and twenty petulant faces turned on him – they'd all done worse than they thought. " That's why I set it. All of you8, without fail, suffered from a common problem. I didn't see any original thought in any of your essays. You gave accounts your parents no doubt gave you, when I asked for your views on the matter. I want all of you to do it again." The twenty incredulous faces quickly morphed into outraged expressions and Draco had to suppress his grin. " You have until Monday."

The rest of the lesson, Draco had to grapple to get the children to engage themselves in the lesson. They were furious with him, and even though it was cruel, he took pleasure from it. He loved being back to himself again. Those weeks where he had let them get away with anything had severely damaged his reputation, and yet now he was getting it back. By the end of the lesson the children literally scowled at him as they sauntered out. Leshia and her friends glared too, arguably slightly fonder than the others, yet still glares. Draco grinned at them and listened at the door as the children erupted in complaints the moment they stepped outside.

It was break time and the children were heading off to the main entrance so they could get outside, but when they reached the entrance hall they found the way was blocked by a gaggle of excitable girls, and a few embarrassed looking boyfriends who had been dragged along to look too.

" Valentine's day…"

" They say they kiss you…"

" They're so cute…"

The girls exchanged curious glances and pushed through the throng to see a fluttering small pink envelope, vaguely in the shape of a heart. It was darting around in front of a display labelled:

_Send your love one a love heart to show how much you care_

_Only 3 sickles get yours now, and it will be delivered on Valentine's Day_

" Who organised this?" Leshia grumbled. " It's so stupid."

" Professor Larkin arranged it with Sickly Sweet, you know, the dating agency that runs out of Diagon Alley," Amy explained, appearing from a gap in the excitable crowd of girls. " It's some sort of promotion."

" It's ghastly," Rachel muttered with a disgusted expression. " I mean who'd want one of those things to buzz up to you and kiss you, ugh!" The girls turned to see what Katie had to say and were surprised and discomfited to see her eyeing the little envelope adoringly.

" Come on, let's go!" Leshia said quickly, and she and Rachel took their sentimental friend by an elbow each, and hurried her out into the cool February morning.

XXX

The Love Hearts promotion, though dismissed as terrible by the lower years, was a hit with most of the school and every day the bursting list and moneybox had to be emptied and refreshed. It seemed that hundreds were being sold to the romantic population of Hogwarts. Every time the girls passed the sign there was a gaggle of girls standing around it whispering and giggling about whom they were sending them to and what they were going to write. Occasionally, when it was late and Leshia was returning from a gruelling quidditch practice, she would find a lone boy hurriedly writing something down, furtively glancing around lest he be caught. By the time Valentine's Day crawled by Leshia and Rachel were thoroughly fed up with the whole thing.

" It's the day of reckoning Leesh, get up, I'm not going out there with lovesick Katie on my own," Rachel's voice came from beyond Leshia's four-poster curtains.

" I'm sick, go away," she grumbled. Rachel rolled her eyes and was about to persist on her 'get Leshia out of bed' campaign, when suddenly she heard a pop, and Leshia's startled cry.

" Tally!" the girl bellowed. " What the hell are you doing in here?" Rachel suppressed her laugher and rushed off to change while Leshia grappled with the houself.

" Miss Malfoy is sick, it is Tally's duty to look…"

" I was lying!" Leshia cried out and angrily threw the curtains open finding everyone in the dormitory grinning at her. " God, even ten million love hearts are better than being cooped up in a bed with _her_," she said jerking her thumb over her shoulder. Tally made an extremely disgruntled sound before disappearing again leaving a nasty smelling grey smoke hanging in the air. The girls changed double-time and rushed out, while Leshia explained that this was Tally's only way of getting her own back on Leshia when she was out of line. The number of times she'd been left in a small-enclosed space surrounded by the toxic smelling smoke was innumerable.

The horrors of the day began even before the girls had reached the great hall. As they stepped down they suddenly got lost in a flurry of pink fluttering things. The first batch of love hearts must have been released. They were dive-bombing poor pupils (mainly boys) and attacking them with kisses, singing messages their unrequited loves had sent them, and generally being a nuisance. Luckily none of them singled out the girls, yet they weren't taking any chances. Armed with their Herbology books they batted their way through the storm of pink letters and finally found their seats at their table.

" This is completely ridiculous," Rachel fumed, taking a swing at a passing love heart. " I mean how are we supposed to concentrate with all these things flying around our heads! We should get a holiday."

" Oh my God, Leesh look at your dad," Katie suddenly yelped with a big grin. Leshia spun around and a big smile temporarily flashed across her mischievous face. Poor Draco was being bombarded with the dratted love hearts, fighting for space to kiss him. His fellow teachers weren't hiding their mirth. Well that's what he got for being the most attractive member of staff. The girls managed to escape off to their first lesson of the day without being singled out and as they sat down in the greenhouse, they were happy that as of yet, no pesky hearts had made their way in. Halfway through the lesson though, after another batch had been set loose on the unsuspecting students, everyone spun around at the sound of clattering, only to see that half a dozen or so letters were trying to force their way into the greenhouse.

" Oh no you don't," Professor Sprout bellowed, and she rushed to close all the windows. " I won't have any of Lucinda's nonsense in my classroom."

" Lucinda?" Rachel mouthed with a frown.

" Larkin," Leshia whispered back, her skin creeping slightly at the woman's name. Luckily, they didn't have her yet, and she was hoping that by the time she reached third year, the infuriating woman would be gone. The lesson was accompanied by the continuous clattering of the hearts outside, but Professor Sprout didn't heed them and continued to explain about Tutankans, plants with miraculous heeling powers, but vicious temperaments. As the bell went signifying the end of the class, the girls were weary to step out into the fluttering hearts, now eagerly awaiting their targets.

" Well look at it this way, who would send any of us anything?" Leshia said trying to put on a brave face. Before the others could answer though she was knocked to the side by Rodeo rushing out with Parys. He didn't even look back to apologise. Leshia frowned feeling hurt. " That was rude…"

" He's probably worried they're out to get him, you know half the girls in our year fancy him," Rachel said meekly. Leshia frowned and nodded in agreement, it didn't seem like Rodeo to be so insensitive to her. She didn't have long to contemplate his turn-around in personality though, as suddenly a flurry of letters swooped into the greenhouse the moment Harriet Coldcauldron, a Ravenclaw girl, opened the door to escape into the pink sky. The girls thought they'd got away with it, when suddenly two letters swooped towards them. They singled out Rachel and Leshia, who darted backwards looking terrified.

" Oh no," Rachel mumbled as the love hearts attacked them with soft kisses. Finally, they fluttered back into the air (leaving Leshia and Rachel literally choking on the perfumed scent they'd filled the air with), snuggled up against one and other and sung in perfect harmony.

'_For being the best friends in the whole wide world!'_ With that there was a small puff of pink smoke and all that remained in the air was a dusting of golden sparkles, which fell down on the girls who were looking at Katie with big smiles.

" Katie, you big softie," Rachel said sounding touched. Leshia grinned and wrapped her arm around the taller girl.

" You're alright Potter," she said cheerfully and they headed off to their Muggle Studies lesson, passing a surprisingly large amount of people covered in gold dust. They thought they saw Draco stalking along the corridor in the distance, although it was hard to tell, because whoever it was, was bedecked in so much gold dust, you couldn't make out what they were wearing, let alone any features.

XXX

By break time, the girls had thankfully evaded any more love hearts, though twice in Muggle Studies small batches had flown in and delivered a large amount to Rodeo and Parys, who were glowing bright red by the end of the lesson…well, gold really, but under the gold, their cheeks burned. Believing herself to be safe (not for one minute thinking anyone could like her, tiny, tomboyish and mouthy, what was there to fancy?), Leshia watched in an amused fashion as Katie and Rachel received a love heart each from 'secret admirers' – though they suspected they were sent by their cousins. She was just laughing at them trying to dust off the gold sparkles, when suddenly three love hearts appeared as though from nowhere and swooped down onto Leshia, she squealed, and coughing away the perfume jumped to her feet, darting to a safe distance from the hearts. The little envelopes fought for who got to say their message first and then, one at a time, came forward.

'_For being the coolest girl in the year'_

'_For being like a best friend, even though you're a girl'_

'_For making watching quittich a bearable'_

In time, Leshia threw her arms over her head as gold rained down on her, and by the time she resurfaced she found her friends sniggering at her.

" You'd better watch out Leesh, I have a feeling there's going to be more of those," Katie said fondly. Leshia shot her an exasperated look.

" There'd better not be," she grumbled and cast the cloud of pink by the main entrance a furtive look. At least the messages hadn't been about her 'dazzling beauty' as Katie's had been, so that was okay. Leshia could recognise that Katie was a very pretty young lady, Rachel too was attractive in a fierce way, but as far as her opinion of herself went, it didn't stretch very highly. Rather more quirky than typically attractive, she still had childish adorableness, with too-large eyes, a small nose and childlike wonder in her face. It was hard to say that Leshia was attractive, but one day she certainly would be.

For now, Leshia thought, as long as nothing fluffy and romantic cropped up, she could just about manage a few more – if they were to come her way of course, which she highly doubted they would.

Defence Against the Dark Arts came after break and for once, nobody waiting in line to go into the classroom felt the least bit intimidated by Draco. Even though he wore and expression like thunder, it was hard to feel afraid when he was twinkling like a Christmas tree.

" In," he barked, not even inspecting their shirts. They took their seats and sat grinning at him as he doled out school copies of an additional text they would be using. He took his seat behind his desk – a rarity, his usual choice was to stand in front, so as to make himself look large and intimidating, but apparently being covered in gold had ruined his chances and didn't even bother.

" Please read chapter four, you've got half an hour, afterwards we will have a discussion," he said sounding fed-up as he reached over and started going over some seventh year final-project drafts. Everything was going well for the first fifteen minutes, until the door swung open and several pink fluttering envelopes zoomed in. Draco looked up in horror, expecting more onslaughts. He'd lost count at fifty, and had a horrible suspicious that more were on their way. This time though, he was lucky, but with a dark look he realised five of them had made a beeline for his daughter and with an even darker look, he watched as they dive-bombed her.

'_For making Hogwarts a better place'_

'_For that awesome Halloween do'_

'_For being the most beautiful person in school'_

'_For sticking up to Allseyer for the rest of us'_

'_For being absolutely lovely'_

Leshia glowed bright red as she dropped her head in folded arms, the gold dust sprinkling down on the back of her head. She didn't want to look up. She didn't want to see the look of outrage on Allseyer's face, not the dark and murderous look on Draco's. The class started twittering once the door had shut again and all that remained from the pesky hearts was the horrible perfumed scent in the air.

" All right that's enough, get back to work," Draco told the class firmly, but he didn't take his eyes off Leshia, who lifted her head, her cheeks glowing and tried to concentrate on her reading. By the end of the lesson Draco was so put-out, by more hearts' attacks on himself and his daughter, that he didn't even give the class the homework he'd planned for them. As Leshia hurried out, she turned at the door and rolled her eyes. He couldn't help but smile back and nod, indicating he entirely agreed with her: this whole day had been utter nonsense and a terrible idea.

When classes drew to a close, thankfully, the letters had stopped being released. Here and there a tired looking love heart fluttered aimlessly through the corridors, their targets having successfully avoided them and found good hiding places. For the most part, the entire student body was dusted with gold. A few outcasts scurried around with no dust at all, trying not to draw attention to themselves. You could tell the popular pupils from down the corridor, because they were like walking statues of gold. Leshia was surprised to be amongst them.

Her total tally had been in the region of forty. Thirty horribly embarrassing affairs that had left her stomach curdling and her cheeks glowing. She didn't like the attention; she didn't like it that she had some sort of secret following. By the time they reached their common room (darting past a gold-dusted Peeves, " Who the hell would send Peeves a love heart?" Rachel had griped) they were in need of a shower before dinner, but found that the queue was terribly long. Deciding to wait for it to die down, they dropped down in their usual window box and jumped back as a love heart fluttered by the window. It took a moment to decide its target wasn't in Gryffindor tower, before hovering off again.

" I say Larkin gets fired for this," Rachel complained. Leshia and Katie grinned at one and other in secret agreement, but their mirth was for Rachel's attitude. They knew their red-haired friend had enjoyed the attention of her ten love hearts. So why on earth was she complaining?

A gold statue walked past and Leshia just about made out Ryan Lofting's features behind the gold mask. He was grinning at his friends Luka and Oskar (veritable gold statues themselves – the heart throbs of sixth year evidently) as though saying 'check me out'. Before he reached them though he noticed Leshia.

" Oh hey shorty, practice after dinner, we're going to be putting in double time until the Ravenclaw game," he said, grinning almost proudly at his little protégé. " They're good, and we have to train hard if we're going to beat them."

XXX

" They've won the quidditch cup the last four years running," Leshia repeated for the umpteenth time that evening, her skin paling. Now clean and dressed in gold-free clothes, the girls were sitting over dinner, grimly watching the rain falling down in the enchanted ceiling. Here and there someone still glowed with the gold dust (evidently too proud to wash it off), but for the most part the highly embarrassed student body – and teachers – had washed off any evidence that the day's events had ever taken place.

After Ryan's warning, Leshia and her friends had hurried to her book to see what it said about the Ravenclaw team. What they'd found was so disconcerting Leshia had had to excuse herself to the bathroom, most likely feeling slightly queasy. The team was spectacularly good. The last time they'd lost a match was three years ago, and even then it was because their seeker had fallen from his broom poisoned by one of the rivalling teams.

The team hadn't changed in the last four years. They were on to a winning combination and every single member was a seventh year. The chasers were tall and wiry, the beaters tall and hulking, the keeper short and swift and the seeker slight and lightning fast on a broom. Leshia didn't see how it was possible for them to beat this legendary Ravenclaw team.

" Don't think about it Leesh," Katie said soothingly. " Just go out there thinking it's any other team."

" Yeah, but it's not though is it?" Leshia countered.

" I've been reading up on Evan Lahara's stats," Rachel said with a mouth full of Yorkshire pudding. " He's not as good as you." Leshia gave her and incredulous look. " Well he's fast and all that, but he's never pulled off anything spectacular. He doesn't have the moves you have." Leshia shook her head.

" Face it, we're toast."

Ryan seemed to be on the same wavelength, because he grilled the team during practice, making them work extra hard. There were some definite improvements by the end of the training, but the rain and the pessimism had dampened everyone's spirits, and they returned to the castle a sullen soggy group. By the main stairs in the entrance hall they stumbled across Draco, who was evidently waiting for Leshia. The girl bade her team goodnight before looking up at Draco with a solemn look.

" We're going to lose dad, I just know it," she said grimly.

" Don't be stupid," he said brusquely. " Who knows what's going to happen. You might surprise yourself…like today." Leshia wrinkled her brow.

" What're you angry about?" she asked with a grin. Draco sighed heavily and shook his head.

" It's been one of those days," he said softly, secretly adding, 'And you're growing up, and there's nothing I can do about it.'

" Did they do this sort of thing when you were in school?" Leshia asked as they headed towards Gryffindor tower at a slow amble. Draco smiled, fondly reliving the lighter side of his school days.

" Never love hearts, but I do remember one year, we had dwarves dressed as cupids skulking around the school. I'll tell you what, you haven't heard 'awful', until you've heard burly dwarves singing out of tune."

" Did you send one to mum?" Leshia asked with a big grin. Draco smiled sadly.

" Are you kidding?" he asked in an upbeat tone. " She couldn't stand the sight of me. So of course I did," he lied and Leshia laughed happily, bringing some comfort to Draco's hurt soul.

" How many did you get?" she asked with a big grin, staring up at her father with idolising eyes. Draco smiled.

" Only a few, it was Potter that got them all," he said with a wry grin.

" Why did he get so many?"

" Well because…"

" Was he better looking?"

" No, it's just…"

" Did he just have a better way with the ladies?" Leshia teased, hanging off Draco's hand and grinning up at him. He laughed and shook her off, while he explained – in vague detail – the conquests he'd had while in school. Leshia laughed and made all the right disgusted expressions, and finally they reached the Fat Lady.

" Password?"

" Swamp scum," Leshia said and then turned back on Draco.

" Don't worry dad, tomorrow everyone will go back to silently fancying you," she said and stepped half way through the portrait hole. Draco kissed the palm of his hand before dropping it down on her head and ruffling her hair.

" Night Trouble," he said with a small smile. She grinned and then retreated into the common room where most people had gone up to bed and only the hard core people stayed up finishing homework that should have been done long before, and as usual Tom and Luke (still dressed in their soaking training gear) and their gaggle of friends were dominating one corner of the common room with some tense game of wizarding chess. Leshia grinned to them before heading up to her dormitory where the others were having a giggly conversation on Ashley's bed.

" Leshia!" Rachel squealed and the others burst out into giggles again, rolling around on the bed in some state of euphoria. Obviously there was hot gossip afoot in need of spreading, what Leshia hadn't expected was the nature of the gossip.

" Leesh you'll never guess!" Nicola added in that similar high-pitched screechy tone. Leshia shrugged her shoulders and dropped her broomstick and wet jumper down on top of her trunk.

" Uh…" she mumbled, searching for her pyjamas under her pillow. She was well accustomed to this game. " One of Snape's potions has backfired and right now he's trying to propose to the Womping Willow?" The girls cackled and shook their heads. " Okay…the Hillipups have started a revolt against Rachel for her mistreatment of Pooperscooper, who they've renamed Emperor of the Hillipups?" Rachel looked affronted.

" Hey, that Hillipup was worth its weight in gold," she said.

" Yeah, its weight was never the problem Rach," Katie smirked. " You get one more try Leshia."

" Oh I don't know," Leshia countered closing the curtains on her four-poster so she could change in privacy. " Hagrid's taken a career change and later this year we'll be seeing him perform Swan Lake in a tutu?"

" What's Swan Lake?" Rachel said with a wrinkled brow.

" No, do you give up?" Katie said gleefully. Leshia shook her head with a smile as she pulled up her trousers.

" Yes," she chuckled, thinking 'I gave up before we started this game'.

" Okay." Behind the curtain she could guess they were gearing up as a team to announce this shocking declaration. " Rodeo and Parys both fancy you and they've fallen out over it." She had been expecting something entertaining, but this was downright shocking.

" What?" T-shirt half on and trousers unrolled up, she tripped out of her curtains causing her friends to roll about in laughter once more.

" You heard," Nicola said almost pointedly. She'd been horrified when Parys had the brief stint with the Ravenclaw girl, but now he was wallowing in love-sickness for Leshia, it was a bit too much. Leshia shook her head quickly.

" No you're wrong," she said looking horrified.

" Aren't you happy?" Ashley asked sounding surprised, she'd love it if those two were fighting over her. Leshia lowered her head and cast the girl an amused dark look – it could have easily been at home on Draco's face.

" Of course she's not," Rachel roared with laughter.

" Leshia hates boys," Katie added with a big smile.

" No I don't hate boys I just don't…you know…I mean yeah they're nice but…look I'm only twelve I don't want to start walking down the corridors hand in hand with any boy, let alone two of my best friends," she grumbled and dropped down on the bed with the others.

" Oh cheer up Leesh, they'll get over themselves," Rachel chuckled. Leshia gave a huge sigh and then turned around with a mischievous grin. For a moment Rachel wondered what she was planning, but then she felt the pillow smack into her head from behind. " Katie!" A sporadic pillow fight followed, easing the tension and ensuring that the five girls lay about in giggles once more. Thoughts of the looming quidditch match, and the two hormonal boys were left behind.

XXX

The weeks passed, and as the match loomed, Leshia had taken to biting her nails again. Rodeo and Parys skirted round her in the corridors, and couldn't quite meet her eye, something that had the young girl fuming. How dare they fancy her and ruin their friendship, who did they think they were?

Life had returned pretty much back to normal in the wake of the love hearts incident, an added benefit maybe was that more people knew Leshia's name and were less inclined to barge into her as they strode down the corridor; a privilege most of the littler first years did not enjoy. In lessons Leshia was performing excellently as usual. The only thing Leshia was not adept in was Care of Magical Creatures. She couldn't take to it. Even though she loved Philly and had an excellent relationship with him, other animals seemed to take a disliking to her.

" Ouw, it bit me!" Leshia cried, ripping her hand out of the Weezbit cage. Weezbits, though exceedingly cute and fuzzy animals (a cross between a rabbit and a weasel might be the best way of describing them), could be quite temperamental. They required expert care with their long flowing coats and fast growing nails, and besides being excellent pets, they were used in magical families as a living lie detector.

" Well are you thinking dishonest thoughts?" Katie asked sounding slightly condescending, as the Weezbit scuttled over to her and nestled up against her. Leshia inspected her red finger petulantly and cast the pair a glare.

" No, animals just hate me," she grumbled. " Especially fussy ugly ones," she snapped glaring at the white Weezbit, who turned to hiss at her.

" Don't be mean, it's just an animal," Rachel said and Leshia turned to see her redheaded fiend buried under a pile of the things.

" I just don't get it," she said sounding bewildered. " I mean, you're the most dishonest of the lot of us and still, they love you!" Rachel gave her a winning smile.

" Must be able to see some greater good in me that you can't," she tried, but couldn't because the need to laugh so much at her absurd exclamation overcame her and soon she was in stitches of laughter. The other two shook their heads as though thinking the same thing.

" Enjoying yourselves?" a deep booming voice came and the girls' work place soon fell into shadow as the hulking form of Hagrid stepped up behind them. He had mistaken their mirth for enjoyment, something they rarely experienced in his cold and often wet lessons. They'd more often than not come out of the miserable lessons clutching injuries that oughtn't to have been there and it irked them, but they didn't have the heart to tell the giant who was still very dear to their parents, so they gritted their teeth and just dealt with it.

" Yeah," they lied in unison, big fake smiles plastered on their wind-bitten faces. The giant managed a big smile, before he moved on to the next group – Damian Allseyer and his group of surly friends. The girls just about had time to turn to one and other and exchange a grim look when all of a sudden Hagrid's booming voice caused them to spin around in surprise.

" What are you doing to that animal?" They instantly looked to where a struggling Weezbit was bound by a shoelace, hissing and spitting at its captors: the group of surly Slytherins. Hagrid was quick to free the poor creature, which scurried off to its temporary burrow in Hagrid's vegetable patch. " Explain yourselves!" The girls turned to each other with big grins, this ought to be good.

" It kept biting us," Allseyer muttered in such a passive tone that Hagrid's face seemed to swell like a balloon.

" Well a right lot of dishonest folk you must be, they only bite if you're hiding something," he explained, his tone darkening, his expression thunderous. Rachel turned to grin mockingly at Leshia, but she was too caught up in the scene in front of her to heed her friend. Allseyer was staring furiously up at the half-giant.

" I don't see how learning how to give some rat-beast a pedicure is going to benefit my education," the slight boy exclaimed, conceit dripping from his features.

" Well perhaps if you learnt how to care for creatures, then you might start treating people with the respect they deserve Allseyer," Hagrid boomed and several of the girls twittered to themselves at the colour rising in Allseyer's cheeks.

" You can't talk to me like that," he whispered, his expression murderous. Leshia looked up to the half-giant, her own expression darkening, she did not like Allseyer's attitude, it worried her.

" And you, are not allowed to mishandle school property," Hagrid countered superiorly. " Detention tomorrow, my hut at seven in the morning, don't be late."

" Well what about them? You don't think I tied it up on my own do you?" Allseyer spat, throwing his hand in the direction of his surprised friends. Everyone stared in surprise, this was a new low. Evidently his friends felt the same, as they glowered at the boy.

" Can't go anywhere without your stooges 'eh Allseyer? Fine, you three can come along too," Hagrid said to Dregon, Pazz and Stump, with a shake of his head and he stalked off to check whether the abused Weezbit was feeling better.

" Damian?" Violet finally managed looking furious.

" What?" Allseyer grumbled. " I need you, I've got a plan!" The others looked enlightened and although they cast the other people in the class furtive glances, they didn't happen to talk about what this plan may be, something that had Leshia extremely worried.

" Did you see the look on Archie Dregon's face?" Rachel sniggered. " He's never looked less like a boy and more like a constipated pig in his life!" Katie howled with laughter, as did Nicola and Ashley, who were sitting nearby, one holding down the Weezbits, the other carefully filing their nails. " Leesh?" Rachel said sounding unsure. " I don't think you heard me, I said did you see…"

" I heard you," Leshia said and turned on her friend with a grin. " Very funny, but look. They're planning something, and I would do anything to find out what it is!"

" Why?" Katie asked with a frown.

" Yeah, they're all hot air that lot anyway," Rachel added. Leshia shook her head urgently.

" Not this time, did you see Allseyer, he's out to get Hagrid," she explained. " We have to find out what they're up to and fast, I don't want anything to happen to him, our parents love him too much!"

XXX

In order to find out what Allseyer's plan was, Leshia had to call in a significant number of favours. Lucky for her, her newfound fame and the fact that her popularity among the out-housers had skyrocketed ever since Valentine's Day, ensured that by the following morning she had her answer.

" Midnight tonight, they're burning down Hagrid's hut," a whisper came in her ear. " But you didn't find this out from me." Leshia nodded, staring ahead with a steely expression. Behind her, the figure sidled away, hoping no one saw the exchange.

" That was the Slytherin who was at our party," Rachel exclaimed seemingly annoyed that a Slytherin should approach their table. " What was…"

" Shhh," Katie hissed seeing the look on Leshia's face. " What is it Leesh, what're they planning?" The small girl sighed, her shoulders drooping, before she leant across the table, drawing her friend's faces in like a flame to a moth.

" They're going to burn down Hagrid's hut," she said softly, a sad seriousness to her tone.

" Well we've got to stop them!" Katie cried out.

" Duh," Rachel sniggered. " But how're we going to do that? There might be lots of them, we can't just wait around with a couple of buckets of water, we couldn't even hide all that under your dad's cloak."

" Well we're going to have to manage without the cloak for part of the way," Katie said firmly. " Maybe we can sneak out with it and then abandon it to get some pales of water…"

" Or we could set a trap!"

" Yeah or tell the teachers."

" What do you think Leesh?" Two expectant faces turned on their leader, but she merely sat, with a distant stony expression.

" Leshia? Something wrong?" Katie asked sounding unsure, when Leshia faltered, they all did.

" Nothing," a soft reply came and Leshia dragged her eyes upwards to look into their faces, creased in concern. " I just…" She swallowed at an empty throat and looked up expectantly to where the mail flock were filling the hall with the sound of fluttering wings. " Have a bad feeling that's all…"

It was a Saturday, so the girls had all day to ponder what they were going to do to thwart Allseyer and his friends. None of them could concentrate on their Transfiguration essays and they could forget about studying for their Potions test on Monday. Unsuspecting Hagrid and his small home were all they could think about.

" Maybe we should just warn him," Rachel complained over dinner. Leshia shook her head.

" This is between him and us, he has to know that he can't get away with what he wants, not unless he wants to deal with us," she explained.

" Stop being so proud Leesh, this is Hagrid's home we're talking about here! He might get hurt!"

" I'm not being proud, so what, we tell Hagrid or one of the other teacher's. What do they do? They either punish Allseyer now, or they wait for him to try, then they punish him. Either way we save Hagrid's house for now, but what about the next time Rach? He's going to try! We have to let him know he's not going to get away with it, that we'll always be one step ahead of him, he has to know who's in charge around here," she complained sounding angry about something.

" Leshia!" Rachel exclaimed rolling her eyes. " You're not in charge…"

" No!" Leshia complained furiously. " _I'm_ not! But we…" She threw an arm across the hall. " Are! No one is ever going to let him get away with his crap. Everyone is going to get in his way." Rachel looked into her friend's impassioned eyes and nodded.

" You're right," she sighed.

" I know I'm right. Now what are we going to do?"

By half past eleven the girls had a feasible plan. It wasn't brilliant, but they hadn't felt inspired. Armed with the invisibility cloak they sneaked past the fat lady and hurried in the direction of the entrance hall armed with an array of empty buckets. Had they been a little further along in their magical education they may have been able to conjure jets of water from their wands, but after a few hours of practising, the best they had managed was when Katie squirted Rachel in the eye with a thin stream of water, a thin stream that would needless to say fail to put out a fire at Hagrid's hut. It was their plan however, to stop the Slytherin's before it got that far.

Armed with a collection of hexes and curses that would aid them in stopping the ghastly bunch of surly preteens, they aimed for Hagrid's hut with steely determination on their faces. The water slopping out of their now full buckets was hindering to say the least and by the time they reached the grounds near Hagrid's hut they were far behind schedule. They'd had to abandon the cloak in the girls' toilets they'd used to fill up their buckets, and as such felt incredibly vulnerable.

" Why do I smell smoke?" Katie suddenly gasped coming to a halt. " It's only quarter to. Why do I smell smoke?" She sounded frantic.

" Look!" Rachel yelped, dropping one bucket and pointing feverishly across the trees. Yellow flames were licking at the night's sky greedily.

" Oh no, we're too late!" Leshia cried and they started towards the flames. Before they could reach them however, several figures stepped out onto the path in front of them.

" Hold it right there," one of them sneered, and surprisingly the voice was not Allseyer's snivelling drawl, it was in fact Snape's. Closer inspection of the figures in fact revealed that they were not an assortment of temperamental Slytherins, but a gathering of furious looking teachers.

" But professor, it's Hagrid's hut, look!" Leshia complained.

" Yes we know," Snape growled at them and Leshia could already see Flitwick and Sprout dealing with the flames. Hagrid too was throwing water over the furious flames, trying their best to devour his house. " We were informed of your trick moments ago, it's a good thing we were able to stop it."

" Our trick?" Rachel asked sounding confused.

" Yes," Snape hissed. " Caught in the act girls, perhaps you shouldn't have bragged to your peers, then you might have got away with it."

" What?" Leshia demanded sounding outraged, already knowing Allseyer had won this one, already knowing they were in so much trouble it wasn't funny. " We're trying to stop them!"

" We were told you might say that," Snape said with a satisfied grin. Leshia lowered her head and glowered furiously at him.

" You have been tricked," she said angrily. " Why would we try and hurt Hagrid, he's our friend. And if we were trying to burn down his hut then why the hell are we standing here with buckets of water trying to put it out?" She was yelling now, furious with Allseyer for this trick, furious with the Slytherin who had fed her wrong information, and furious with the teachers for believing any of this to be happening. Beside her Rachel was shaking her head angrily, and Katie had gone into some form of shock, contemplating the trouble they were in. Snape smiled a sickly smile at them.

" Getting angry is not going to help your case Miss Malfoy, you can't imagine the trouble you're in." He seemed triumphant.

" Ah," Leshia exclaimed furiously and she threw down her water, the flames behind the teachers dying away. " Let me guess, Allseyer, he's the one that told you! What? Just happened to be out and about at this time, happened to come across you and tell you of our plans?" Snape smiled even more.

" He told us you would blame him," he said with a satisfied smile.

" Truth potion," Leshia uttered softly, her eyes narrowed in such hatred that she could barely see.

" I'm sorry?"

" Truth potion Professor, come on, you're always threatening us with it, well bring it on!" she cried out angrily.

" I will not stand for this Miss Malfoy, the three of you are to report to Hagrid's hut at six-o clock in the morning for punishment, be pleased that he has been lenient with you. Were it not for his insistence, then the three of you would be packing your bags right now," he said sharply. Katie and Rachel sighed their relief and turned to go, but Leshia remained routed to the spot, staring furiously at the greasy-haired teacher.

" Leesh, let's go," Katie said softly, trying to drag her friend away.

" Coward," Leshia uttered, staring directly into Snape's eyes. He smiled darkly.

" When you are done at Hagrid's Miss Malfoy, you may join me in my office," he said with a sneer and turned on heel to help the others repair the damage done to Hagrid's hut. Leshia shook with anger, but followed her friends all the way back to their dormitory. Without a word they changed and then faced off in the gloom of the room.

" What are we going to do?" Katie whispered.

" Hagrid will believe us," Leshia said soothingly. To her surprised Katie grinned.

" I know, I meant about Allseyer."

XXX

Needless to say, they felt less confidant of Hagrid's feelings when they found themselves standing before him in the dark of the early morning, wrapped up warmly against the rainy morning. He looked more menacing than they had imagined possible, so much so, that they huddled against each other on his doorstep.

" Hagrid," Leshia tried, but her voice failed her. For all her usual bravado, she was unsure now.

" I know it weren't you lot," Hagrid finally said gruffly. " I heard you, I know it weren't you." The girls crumpled in relief.

" Well can you let us in then?" Rachel shivered. Hagrid dutifully stepped aside and pushed three large mugs full of hot tea in their direction, as they fell around his table.

" What I don't understand," Hagrid said gruffly, taking the seat opposite the girls. " Is why you couldn't have warned me." The girls quickly looked to Leshia pointedly. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, her head cocked to the side slightly.

" Uh…well, we thought we'd be able to stop him ourselves," she finally said sounding slightly sheepish. Hagrid stared at her sternly.

" You've been had girls," he said shaking his head. " And I'm disappointed in you." The girls hung their heads slightly, and shuffled their feet under the table. No more was said on the subject, but by the end of their 'detention' they had gathered that Hagrid valued heir loyalty more than he resented their not telling him and as such, they went away from their meeting with him feeling giddy with relief. Leshia's relief and happiness at least was short lived, as she crossed over the threshold at the main entrance she remembered she was to continue the day with Snape. Reluctantly she bade the other two goodbye and made her way down to the dungeons. She didn't encounter any Slytherins on the way, it was nine-o clock, they were no doubt still in bed, 'the lazy buggers' Leshia grumbled to herself. It didn't take her long to reach Snape's and with a great deal of reluctance, she reached out and knocked on his door.

" Enter," the tired voice of the Potions Master wafted out. Leshia gritted her teeth together and pushed the door open to reveal the greasy-haired dragon sat behind his desk, partially obscured by a veritable mountain of bottles and jars containing ghastly contents. " Sit down Miss Malfoy." It wasn't a request, but a steely order. Leshia obeyed, looking at her father's friend angrily. The master however didn't move from the jar he was examining, something that allowed her eyes to wander. Eventually they rested on a line of small vials standing in front of her and an assortment of brown labels that had evidently fallen off.

" Sir?" she sounded congested, as though her voice was coming out of a restricted throat. She had almost certainly guessed what she was going to be doing. After a few moments of further study, Snape put down the jar and peered over his glass mountain at the girl in front of him. He saw her giving the colourful vials standing before her a cautious look.

" Yes Miss Malfoy, you are going to be concerning yourself with those potions this morning," Snape said simply. " Over the years of standing in my stock cupboard the labels have worn off, I need you to ascertain which potion is which."

" How?" Leshia asked looking alarmed.

" I need you to taste them, and we shall observe the effects," Snape said with a cruel smile. Leshia's eyes went doubly wide and she stared at him nonplussed.

" Surely you can just do some chemical tests to see what they are?"

" Yes, but this is more effective," he said with a nasty smile, secretly adding, 'And more amusing to boot.'

" But if they've been in your stock cupboard for years then, well…haven't they gone off?" The girl was looking completely incredulous.

" Perhaps, we shall have to see, the nature of the potions will still be evident, just perhaps more pronounced. Not to worry, none of them are particularly detrimental…"

" Particularly?" Leshia demanded. " Look Professor, I don't think that you're allowed to go shoving potion down pupil's throats, it's not right!"

" Nor is burning down a professor's lodgings, but you saw fit to that last night."

" We didn't do it, it was Allseyer. Hagrid believes us, you should to," she countered sounding deadly.

" Let the silly fool believe what he wants, I am not so foolish," Snape said with a small smile.

" Could have fooled me!" Leshia spat.

" Let us begin," Snape said cheerfully and he pushed forward the vial containing a green silky goo. Leshia closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, before reaching forward to the vial. One by one she helped Snape identify the solutions. Some had desired outcomes, in fact one made her feel like she was on top of the world, but this was not the case for most. The last potion they landed on, was undoubtedly not unidentifiable, because Snape's face morphed into a large smile once she'd sampled it. Almost instantly Leshia felt weightless, without a care in the world.

" So Leshia," Snape said, getting up and walking round his desk. Leshia's eyes followed him, a silly almost euphoric expression on her face. " Did you and your hoodlum friends set fire to Hagrid's hut last night?" Leshia grinned and shook her head.

" No, we were trying to stop Allseyer from doing it," she said with a satisfied grin. Snape almost looked surprised, but instead he pulled back and tilted his head to one side.

" Indeed?"

" He was after Hagrid for making a fool out of him," Leshia explained. " We wanted to make sure he didn't get away with it."

" Hogwarts underground police are you?" Snape muttered. Leshia grinned at him.

" We do a better job than you lot."

" Leshia who attacked you on Halloween last term?" Snape cut in sharply. Leshia leaned back and felt a small wave of panic take over her senses. By now she was aware of the truth potion's hold over her, but try as she might, she couldn't stop it from taking hold of her senses.

" Well…" she began.

'Don't you imbecile! You'll give away our advantage!'

" It was…" Snape was sat on the edge of his chair, wand almost at the ready to go storming out of his study in search of the vile students he had wished to expel months ago. The very thought of reckless students roaming the castle sickened him and he hated it that because of some self-righteous crusade, the girl in front of him wouldn't give him the information he needed, but not now. Now she was going to tell him, she had to, but then…

" Severus," Draco's voice came, muffled by the door, but then he pushed the door open, his expression slightly dangerous, a dark glint in his eye. He crossed the office, took one look into Leshia's eyes and then lifted her to her feet from under her arm. " Hagrid has cleared the girls. Leshia is coming with me." He pushed her gently towards the door and out into the corridor before he turned round at the door and shook his head at his friend. " Don't _ever_ try that again Severus." Draco fumed almost the whole way back to Gryffindor tower, while Leshia veritably floated alongside him.

" I hear you told Snape to 'bring it on'?" he finally asked with a smile, looking down at his daughter's vacant expression. She grinned.

" And so he did," she replied happily. Draco grinned even more.

" It would seem so, I won't forgive him for this Leshia, not even I would ever stoop so low," he said.

" Yeah well Snape is a loser dad, and you're much better than him," Leshia said sounding intoxicated.

" Leshia please, for your own good, don't say any more," he said with a small smile.

" But dad, you're better than all of them, especially…"

" No," Draco laughed and he hurried her over to the painting of the fat lady. Once she had uttered the password and he had delivered her into the hole behind the painting, Leshia turned and smiled before she disappeared into the loud common room. Once the portrait door had swung closed Draco closed his eyes and hung his head back angrily. Snape had crossed the line this time, he was going to have to have a word with him.

As Leshia entered the bustling common room, the brightness and the noise nearly made her recoil. She was still very much under the spell of the drug running through her veins and she was also very much aware of it.

" Leshia?" It was Rachel, she and Katie were sat in their usual window box only this time they were joined by the boys. Leshia spun around and with a pang of fear realised she was going to have to get away. Staying would probably be very detrimental to her respective relationships with her friends.

" Uh…I have to…um…go," she said brightly, her legs carrying her towards the dormitories, her upper body turned to her friends, a ridiculous smile on her face.

" Leesh are you okay?" Katie asked worriedly, as all four of them got to their feet, approaching their friend with utmost care. Snape had obviously done something to her, that much was clear. Leshia shook her head and made a slight exasperated sound.

" No I'm not," she said.

" Well what's wrong? What did Snape do to you?"

" He gave me truth potion," the words tumbled out. Leshia's eyes went wide as every single face in the common room turned to stare at her in amazement. Rachel and Katie were looking aghast and suddenly realised with urgency that it was important they got Leshia away from everyone. Rodeo and Parys however, looked to one and other triumphantly, finally the opportunity they had been waiting for had arrived.

" Leshia, which one of us do you fancy more?" Parys demanded. The occupants of the room who had momentarily looked away in boredom all spun around again. Leshia made an exasperated sigh and though Rachel and Katie tried to push her towards the dormitories, she had to answer the question.

" Neither of you," she said angrily. " This is ridiculous, what is wrong with you?" The boys furrowed their brows and took a few steps back. " We were really good friends and then you had to go and ruin everything. Just be normal!"

" Come on Leesh, let's go," Katie urged and she led Leshia away from the crushed-looking boys. She allowed herself to be dragged away. Once she'd left the room the common room burst into hushed whispers and giggles.

" Damn Snape," Leshia growled as she dropped down on her bed, the makings of a headache causing her temples to throb. " I nearly gave away Ashton's little secret, he's so low, I hate him so much!"

XXX

Something that irked Leshia more than her newly refreshed hatred for Snape was the fact that now she had merely a week until the Ravenclaw game was due to take place. The terrified team were being put through their paces nightly by a possessed Ryan Lofting, more often than not in the middle of some wild and wet March storm or other, ensuring that all seven Gryffindor players were slightly sniffely by the end of the week. Madam Pomfry swore by her own special brand of chocolate, and soon had the Gryffindors on a rigorous diet of the stuff. It was very sickly, and as Leshia sat down to breakfast on that Saturday morning she pushed aside her large bar of chocolate and nibbled instead on a piece of toast.

Around her the atmosphere at the table was a subdued one. Everyone knew the gravity of the situation, it was so tangible you could almost see the weight of it in the air. Certainly, in the faces of the Gryffindor team, it was most evident. Over at the Ravenclaw table the merry crowd were singing triumphantly the songs they had formed over the past four years to herald their victorious lot. Many of the Slytherins joined in, eager for the Gryffindors to lose face over this.

" Ignore them," Ryan told his team softly. " They're going in over-confident, we can still win this, we just have to remember what we practised."

" They'll feel like idiots when they realise how they underestimated us," Luka said fiercely at his side. Taking strength from their enthusiasm Leshia wolfed down the rest of her toast and got to her feet.

" Brace yourself Malfoy," Ryan chuckled and for a moment Leshia pondered at this strange announcement, before she was buried under her friends' exuberant embraces.

" You're going to kick butt Leshia, don't even worry your pretty head about it!" Rodeo crowed cheerfully in her ear – the two boys had thankfully regained their senses Leshia was happy to see.

" Rodeo," she warned fondly.

" Okay I'm sorry, I meant your ugly head," the boy said pulling back and grinning charmingly at her. " Just didn't want to draw attention to it is all…ow!" He playfully hit his friend back on her arm before making room for Katie and Rachel, who were clamouring for Leshia's attention.

" Evan Lahara wears glasses Leesh, in this weather, he won't be able to see a thing," Rachel informed Leshia, while slinging her arm around her shoulders and leading her out. Katie gave the redhead a fierce look.

" My dad wears glasses and he manages fine," she said slightly snootily. Both Leshia and Rachel grinned fondly at her. " But maybe you can get Tom or Luke to aim to knock them off, then you might stand a chance."

Their jokes were still ringing in her ears as Leshia, accompanied with the rest of the motley crew stepped out onto the waterlogged field. The rain hadn't dampened anyone's spirits and as usual the entire school had turned out to watch this sure-to-be exciting match. The Ravenclaws were marching on at the same time and Leshia stole a glance at this legendary Evan Lahara. Rachel was right, a pair of square glasses adorned his squashed looking face. He was tall and lanky and looked more like a walking joke, rather than a auspiciously good seeker, but then again, who in their right mind would look at her and truly believe her capable of great flying? Small and scrawny, she looked as though she might break at the slightest touch. Lahara almost felt sorry for the little Gryffindor girl, she was after all quite enchanting, he didn't want to have hurt the little thing, but if she got in the way teacher's-daughter-or-no, she would get it.

" _They're going for their fifth in a row team, it's never been done before, they want this bad," _Ryan's words were floating around Leshia's memory, and she tried very hard to ignore them. Harder still was to ignore the mean glints in the eyes of their opposition. Had they not been wearing blue uniforms, she could have sworn they could have doubled for Slytherins. Personally Leshia was thinking, or rather hoping, that they cared more for staying out of Azkaban than they cared about this win, because that seeker boy was looking at her as though her wished to break her in two, and despite his lankiness, at this moment in time she didn't doubt that he would have no trouble doing this.

Ryan and Dominic Offol were shaking hands rather more roughly than was required and then finally Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Leshia was up in the air before any of the others and she quickly climbed to her usual drifting heights. Almost instantly she nearly felt her heart explode when Lahara darted across the pitch apparently in pursuit of the snitch. Without thinking Leshia darted after him, while down below Martin Lahara – Evan's younger brother – crowed down the speakerphone that Ravenclaw were already set to win. It took Leshia five minutes to realise she was being had. Lahara was trying to wear her out, he hadn't seen anything, and angry with this deception Leshia turned from him and started scouring the field for the small golden ball. There! Leshia dropped from her height instantly, and after the crowds had uttered their 'oohs' and 'aahs' in unison she pulled out of the steep nose-dive heading for the golden flash she had not taken her eyes off.

" What the…" she whispered in panic when suddenly her vision swam with golden balls. Smaller than the Snitch, they appeared to be the size of peanuts doused in golden dust, not dissimilar to the ghastly gold dust the love hearts had deposited all over the school. Someone was throwing them, and Leshia didn't doubt for a moment that it was the Slytherins who were to blame. Angry once more Leshia pulled away from their tricks and once more her heart threatened to do somersaults in the confined space of her ribcage: Evan was diving for something, his arm outstretched, he was grabbing something gold.

" No!" Leshia gasped and she took off from her position, rising through the halted players like a bullet. Beneath her the crowds roared.

" Ravenclaw win!" Martin Lahara was screaming at the top of his lungs. " My brother's got the snitch!" The pandemonium was everywhere; Ravenclaws were wildly celebrating, Gryffindors were angrily complaining about the deception that had distracted Leshia, and it would seem only Leshia was paying attention to Evan Lahara, who's face was gradually falling as he opened his gloved hand to reveal…

" He hasn't got the snitch!" Leshia yelled out to Madam Hooch. The broomed teacher approached and she too saw what had caused Leshia's heart to skyrocket: a handful of golden peanuts. The teacher promptly blew her whistle.

" The game isn't over yet!" she shouted triumphantly and instantly the chaos died down. The Ravenclaws were bitterly complaining, even Evan had something to say and much later on when the excitement of the day had worn off, Leshia silently thanked those Slytherins and their gold peanuts, for if the Ravenclaws had not been distracted she might not have seen it, and had the advantage.

The snitch was hovering very near the ground almost directly under Evan Lahara's position, without thinking Leshia dropped into a hair-raising dive. Evan Lahara saw, but it was almost too late. He followed Leshia's tail twigs helplessly and watched as the young Malfoy outmanoeuvred him past the players and down to the ground. They were getting close now and the snitch had frozen, obviously staying close to the ground as an escape tactic. The dive was too steep for Lahara, he knew he would never pull out in time, so he abandoned it to a roar of disapproval from the stands. Leshia however, carried on, her heart in her mouth, her eyes watering from the speed she was flying towards the ground at. As she reached out her hand, in a moment of foresight, she realised she wouldn't be able to pull out in time either, but it didn't matter. Winning was all that mattered, and as she clasped her fingers round the golden metal she felt a wave of euphoria spread through her.

It was extremely short lived however, as soon afterwards her failed attempt to swoop out of the descent failed and she found herself immersed under a layer of mud, her wrist aching to high heaven.

" Ouw!" she managed sounding mangled and tortured, and freeing herself from her muddy predicament she looked down to see the hand she held the golden ball in stood at a very odd angle. " That's not right," she uttered.

" Malfoy you did it!" Ryan cheered and he nearly swooped down on the girl, but Leshia jumped back.

" Not right now," she said sounding pained and distant, as though all her concentration and effort was going into staving the tears of pain that were threatening to fall. Ryan's eyes followed hers to her deformed wrist and he winced.

" Madam Pomfry! Over here!" he bellowed to the teachers who were already rushing across the pitch to the triumphant Gryffindors. Within moments Madam Pomfry had her wand out and after pointing it to Leshia's wrist and uttering a silent incantation Leshia's wrist painfully arranged itself back into place. As soon as her hand was pointing the right way again Leshia was swept up into the arms of her ecstatic team mates who carried her round on their shoulders to a chorus of 'Gryffindor number one', and for the life of her Leshia couldn't remember the last time she had been so happy.

XXX

" You're going down in the history books Malfoy," Ryan crowed happily from his position – buried under five girls on the cosiest sofa in the Gryffindor common room. Leshia, in a predicament not so different – wedged into a cosy armchair with Rachel and Katie – grinned broadly at her captain.

" As what, the kid who had the most hospital wing visits in a season?" she asked gleefully, slopping half of her butterbeer down her front. Rachel, who was currently holding Leshia's Hogwarts quidditch history book pulled it away from the triumphant seeker. They had already been scouring the pages for the book's verdict on the game. The words 'Ravenclaw Knocked off Number One!' had jumped out at them as soon as they reached the last page and they happily read the praise it doled out on Leshia and the Gryffindors.

" Are you kidding?" Ryan laughed. " Of course for that too, but also for being pretty damn alright." Leshia grinned and glowed red, hiding her face in the book.

" All this is going to your head," Katie observed happily. Leshia glowed even brighter.

" It is not," she tried, but it was pointless. How could she ignored such lavish praise, it hadn't stopped coming all afternoon and now, well into the evening, she couldn't help but take some of it to heart. She'd done an okay job this season she realised and maybe that was something to be proud of.

" Hey look," a voice remarked in the background, but Leshia didn't turn where many did, to see what was going on by the window.

" Let it in, it's got a letter," another voice was calling.

" It's injured, look!" Only now did Katie and Rachel peer over the back of their armchair to see a ragged bleeding bird stood behind the glass of one of the window boxes. Leshia though stared fixedly ahead, her expression suddenly deadly solemn, her eyes, no longer dancing. Once more the feeling of dread swooped over her, she had experienced it the day of their Allseyer intervention, but now, it was ten times more powerful. Something awful was going to happen…she knew it. The cold wet winds that buffered round her ears revealed that the window had been thrown open and after a few moments of startled noise – both from the children and the bird – Leshia felt something land on the top of the armchair. The bird squawked at Leshia.

" Leesh, I think it's for you," Katie exclaimed shakily, and seeing her friend had no intention of reaching for the blooded letter, she did so herself with shaking hands. Everyone watched in amazement, as the dark haired girl handed down the letter to her friend, and after a few moments of silent prayer, Leshia reached out and took it from her.

_Help me_

" Oh my God," Rachel whispered. " It's written in blood!"

" That's your mum's handwriting," Katie added and both girls looked to Leshia, who was still holding out the letter, her eyes closed, her skin suddenly very white. It was almost as though she had been expecting this news, as she calmly got to her feet and deposited her butterbeer and her book on the table.

" Where are you going?" Rachel asked wearily.

" My dad," Leshia replied calmly. No one blocked her path and soon she was heading down the deserted corridors. Curfew had long since passed, and for the most part Leshia didn't encounter anyone in the dark halls, that is, until she stumbled across Peeves, no doubt in the act of causing more mischief.

" Student out of bed!" Peeves bellowed in his grinding cackling voice. Leshia didn't have the patience for his noise and in an instant she had reached for her wand and held it pointed firmly at the awful little poltergeist.

" If I were you, I would shut up and get out of my way," she said hoarsely, her eyes blazing, her mannerism not dissimilar to her father's. Peeves was slightly put out by this fact, he had had several nasty run-ins with Draco and each time had come away defeated and humiliated, but this girl was only a tiny thing, what could she do? " Oh, what's the ickle first year going to do to nasty old Peeves eh?" the poltergeist cackled.

" You don't want to find out, I can guarantee that," Leshia uttered softly, her eyes blazing.

" No," a drawling voice came from behind her. " But I do." Leshia slowly turned around and found that Snape was staring at her with mild interest, it looked out of place on his cruel face. " I see that the brief fame you earned yourself today has gone to your head Malfoy, school rules not good enough for you?"

" This is none of your business _Professor_," Leshia growled, still furious that he had interfered in her business. Snape looked affronted by her cheek.

" What goes on in these corridors after curfew is very much my business Miss Malfoy, now what are you doing?" Leshia smiled wildly, only her eyes remaining cold and furious.

" What's the matter Professor, all out of truth potion? Because that's the only way I am ever going to tell you anything again," she said angrily. Snape's face seemed to swell slightly in anger at this child's impertinence. It had been a long time since any had spoken to him as such, but then again, this was a Malfoy he was dealing with. No matter how alike her mother she was, that fact still remained.

" Why I never…" he began, but Leshia had had enough and she turned on heel, side-stepping past a gleeful Peeves in the direction of her father's study, just a few meters away round the corner.

" Hold it right there Malfoy!" Snape bellowed and he charged after her. The girl hadn't expected him to actually run after her, and in a moment of panic she took off at high speed, careening round the corner, skidding to a halt outside her father's study where Snape finally caught up with her and grabbed the hood of her quidditch uniform, which she was yet to change out of. " Unbelievable!" he panted, bending over to catch his breath back.

" You don't understand!" Leshia complained angrily.

" No you don't understand, you can't bend every rule you like just because you're under some delusional impression that you are the most important pupil in this school…"

" That's not what I think!" Leshia growled angrily.

" Well that is how you behave, so like you're mother in that respect…" At this point three things happened: Snape jumped back in surprise clutching at his stinging cheek, Leshia recoiled the hand she had just used to smack the ghastly potions master about the face with and clutched it to her mouth in horror and the door to Draco's study flew open revealing a very serious looking Draco, his eyes taking in the scenario in front of him.

" Leshia," he finally groaned sounding pained.

" I will not stand for this Malfoy," Snape hissed looking to Draco with white-hot fury in his eyes. Draco closed his eyes for strength and nodded, clearly exasperated with the whole thing. " I hope you will see to it that she is properly punished. If you won't then I will!" With this the greasy man spun on heel and stormed off, his cloak billowing behind him like a dark thundercloud. Father and daughter watched him go until finally, after he'd rounded the corridor, they looked back on one and other. Draco was looking bemused to say the slightest.

" I have a very good reason," Leshia said, pushing past him into his office, before taking a seat on the sofa. She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked so vulnerable that Draco faltered, something must have happened.

" I was going to come and congratulate you when the commotion died down," he said sitting down by her side, looking slightly concerned that he had offended her for waiting. Leshia shook her head.

" It's not that dad," she said and she looked up at him through eyes creased with sorrow and anger. " It's this…" She pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her sleeve and reached out to Draco with it. He took it from her, his brow a series of worry lines, and opened the parchment. Seeing what lay there he dropped his hand to his lap, a strange surprised sound escaping his throat. After wincing and sighing in a pained manner, he looked at it again, before reacting similarly once more. " It's real isn't it?" Leshia asked softly. Draco closed his eyes and his breathing quickened, but he nodded all the same.

" I think it is sweetheart," he finally replied.

" So I was right all along," she whispered. Her father finally opened his eyes and turned to look at her in dismay.

" So it would seem." He reached out and wrapped a large hand round the back of her neck, trying to ease away the horrible fear that was snaking across her face. " I'm sorry…"

" Cole Ashton," Leshia said firmly, the fear that had been evident on her face moments before, fading away. " He knows dad, he knows where they're keeping her!" Whereas once, such an accusation may have caused Draco to fly off the handle, now he merely nodded his agreement. " Dad please let me talk to him? Please! I know you, you're very good at scaring lots of scary people into telling you what you want, but this guy…well he thinks more like me than you. I know I can get it out of him, I just know it!" Draco was looking at her with something near to pity and Leshia knew he would never agree to it. The chance that they were going to find his wife, the mother to his child, was a slim one, and he didn't want to risk losing it by entrusting this important task to his twelve-year-old daughter.

" I'm sorry," he said softly and he shook his head. Leshia sighed painfully and her shoulders drooped. The despair on her face was so intense that it physically hurt him. " Look, allow me to try first," he began and Leshia looked up at him with hope in her eyes. " If I can't get through to him, then you can try, but you have to wait for my signal, understood?"

" Yes dad," Leshia said with a bright smile, sure that Ashton would not cave to Draco's Auror-style techniques of interrogation. The only thing that had her worried was whether the boy would be in any fit state to talk by the time she got her turn on him.

For three days Leshia watched Ashton from afar at every chance she got. He certainly was beginning to look very jumpy and withdrawn, but Draco had evidently not succeeded as he was stalking the corridors as though he were a walking bad mood. In their last lesson with him, even Leshia had felt slightly rattled by his cruelness. He was evidently not getting through, and taking it as a personal failure, the anger it caused him was almost overwhelming. He had been the best Auror in his time, and now a snivelling snot nosed brat was getting the better of him.

Come Tuesday morning Leshia sat down to breakfast and was surprised to find a parchment appear on her plate the moment she sat down.

_I give up, give it your best shot_

It read. Leshia couldn't help but grin and she quickly caught her father's eye and nodded letting him know she had got his message. After ascertaining that Ashton was in fact whole and looking somewhat relieved and pleased with himself Leshia turned on her friends and grinned. They knew what this meant loud and clear: Plan 'scare the crap out of Ashton' was going ahead, and they were very glad for it.

XXX

It took Leshia and her friends a further two days to organise and set their plan into action, but within no time Friday - the day of reckoning (as it had become fondly known as) - was upon them. Time dragged by, and none of the first year Gryffindors found themselves able to concentrate in their lessons. For once Draco allowed their minds to wander, aware of what Leshia had planned. His lesson was the last before lunch – their chosen time of punishment – and as they filed out he caught his daughter's eye and nodded to her brusquely. She took his concern to heart and smiled wearily in return, hoping to convey how nervous she felt.

With the miserable weather on the horizon, everyone hurried outside to make the most of the bright weather before the thunderclouds rolled in, and Ashton was of course among them. Thankful for this small chance of good fortune Leshia and her friends advanced on the motley crew of Slytherins, eager to get their plan underway.

" Well well well, if it…" Ashton began, his bravado masking shattered confidence and ragged emotions – all caused by Draco's treatment of him and the months of torment over whether Leshia was going to crack.

" Blood traitor right?" Leshia sighed in a blasé tone. " That's right, we've heard it before. We have a proposition for you Ashton." Getting straight to business, Leshia took strength from the great display of cool strength her friends were fronting.

" Go on," Ashton muttered.

" I know that what frightens you most in the world is what I could say," Leshia said with a small smile, her eyes roving over the Slytherins she had last seen hooded and bearing over her. They all averted her eyes. " And what my words could do to your pathetic little lives."

" Well what do you want?" Ashton demanded, furiously suppressing his anger at being addressed this way. He'd known all along that Leshia was after something, or she would have blown the whistle on him long ago. Also, thanks to his foolish boasting at the time, had an inkling what it was she was after, but she would never get it. It wasn't his secret to divulge, he'd accidentally overheard something from someone who ought not to have known in the first place. If he told, that would be it for him.

" To have a little talk," Leshia whispered, her eyes glinting darkly.

" I won't tell you anything," Ashton hissed.

" You don't know what I'm asking yet." For a moment the pair stood locked in a vicious gaze, until finally Ashton hung his head.

" Fine, we can talk," he said bitterly.

" Great," Leshia retorted brightly. " Not here, and you have to come alone." It took them a long time to convince Ashton that he was to go with Leshia on his own. His cronies, more burly and sulky than any of the Slytherins Leshia had yet encountered, were very much against the idea, but after Leshia threatened them with a sentence in Azkaban they relented and she was able to lead Ashton away towards the dark forest.

" We're not going in there are we?" Ashton asked, slowing down. Leshia turned to him and nodded brightly.

" Only place we can be alone Ashton."

" But we're not allowed…"

" Since when have you cared about rules?" Leshia laughed. " I hadn't realised you were such a coward."

" I am not a coward," the boy hissed furiously.

" Oh really, is that why you needed all your cronies to take on one little first year…"

" Okay fine, lead the way," Ashton exclaimed quickly, looking around furtively in case anyone had heard her. Following the route she had by now memorised, Leshia led the petulant boy through the forest. With every step they took he seemed to grow more timid and with a pleased smile Leshia took pleasure from his suffering. It was also going to aid in their plan somewhat. Finally they reached the small clearing just as a thunderous crack filled the heavens. Both of them jumped; granted, Ashton a full three feet higher than the girl.

" Are you happy now Malfoy? You're going to get us both struck by lightning!" Ashton yelled angrily. Leshia rolled her eyes.

" They strike at the highest point you imbecile, they can't hit us," she said drolly.

" But the falling trees can!"

" Look," Leshia said forcefully, his fear now beginning to anger her. " The quicker you tell me what I want to know, the sooner you can get out of here."

" I will _never_ tell you what you want to know Malfoy," the boy called out angrily. Leshia furrowed her brow and sat down on a large rock.

" You don't even know what I'm asking yet…"

" Let me guess, precious mummy is it? You want to know what the big bad nasty men have done to her." For a moment or two the tables were turned; Cole Ashton stood gleefully watching as Leshia's face contorted into an expression of fear. " I'm never going to tell you Malfoy, she's going to spend a long time suffering because you're never going to find her…"

_Aaaaooooooouuuuuuwwwwww_

The boy froze. His skin turned a deathly white within seconds and Leshia thought he looked rather like a homing beacon in the dim stormy light. She herself had not moved from her spot, the anger and pain coursing through her were too overwhelming. So he did know!

_Aaaaooooooo aaaaooooouuuuuuwwwwww_

" What was_ that_?" Ashton hissed sounding out of his mind. Leshia looked up to him slowly and smiled. " Oh brilliant! You've brought us out here to be mauled by werewolves, I knew all those hexes had messed with your head!" Around them the bushes started to move with the grunts of some unknown beast and Ashton literally started to shake.

" So what if they have?" Leshia asked with a broad smile.

" Look I'm getting out of here," Ashton hissed and he tried to run, but Leshia was ready and she quickly took out her wand and paralysed him.

" You're not going anywhere until you tell me where my mother is!" she hissed angrily and she took from his pocket his wand before releasing him from her spell. Now with both wands aimed at him he climbed to his feet and shook his head.

" You're not going to get away with this Malfoy…"

_Aaaaooooooo aaaaooooouuuuuuwwwwww_

Even Leshia jumped this time as the ghastly sounds swirled around them on the stormy winds. Those things were close, and yet it didn't fill Leshia with the gut wrenching terror that Ashton was afflicted with.

" Tell me now and we can get out of here!" she yelled furiously at him.

" No! I can't!" Ashton yelled back, evidently very shaken by what was going on all around him.

" Look, would you rather break some stupid promise, or die? It's really very simple!" The rustling in the bushes surrounding the clearing grew more frantic and for a moment it looked as though Ashton was going to crack, but then in a second his frightened eyes narrowed in anger, and his pallid cheeks glowed red with embarrassment and fury. For what Ashton had glimpsed sight of in the bushes, instead of a werewolf coming to get them, was a head of red hair and a Hogwarts uniform.

" You're dead Malfoy!" he screamed, his voice terrifying.

'Uh oh,' Leshia managed before the boy dived at her. He knocked the wands from her hands and was on her like some maniac possessed. The punches were painful, and all Leshia could wonder was why her friends weren't coming to her aid.

" Leshia run!" she barely caught on the winds.

" Get off me!" Leshia screamed and she kicked hard at Ashton's lower region. She missed the target, but inflicted enough pain to cause the boy to roll off her in agony.

" Leshia get out of there…" It was barely audible, but there nonetheless. Leshia made to run, but something had hold of her ankle.

" Ashton you idiot, can't you hear that! We have to get out of here, I'm not joking!" Leshia cried out and tried to struggle free from the boy.

" No," he hissed. " You're not going anywhere until I've taught you a lesson!" He was rising to his feet now, his expression so angry, Leshia was sure she was in for it.

" Oh my God," she suddenly whispered.

" That's right…" Ashton began, rubbing his fist with the fingers of his other hand.

" No…" Frozen with fear, Leshia tried very hard to get her legs to co-operate, but they wouldn't move. For moving very slowly into the clearing behind the boy was something her friends could never have arranged. With eight painfully thin legs and too many eyes to count a giant Acromantula was snaking into the clearing, evidently angry that its sleep had been interrupted. " Look behind you…" Leshia tried, her voice escaping her.

" I'm not falling for that one," Ashton hissed.

" No really," Leshia whimpered finally managing to stumbled backwards a few steps, her eyes wandering the clearing for either of their wands. There they were, behind the giant beast. It was getting closer and Ashton looked no closer to believing her, except he was going to have to, as with a screech the beast advanced quicker on them. Ashton barely had time to turn around and scream before he was clasped in the giant pincers of the beast. After lunging for Leshia with the other one, it just about caught her side causing it to bleed furiously, but grab her it did not, and Leshia dived under its many squirming legs for safety.

" Help me!" Ashton was screaming frantically, but the girl was more concerned with trying to avoid the many pincers and legs the Acromantula was flailing in her direction. After a mad chase that lasted for what seemed like hours, but could only have been a few moments, her hands fell on her wand and she grabbed it, frantically skittering away from the beast.

" _Incendio_," Leshia yelled out hoarsely, and a jet of fire escaped her wand in the direction of the Acromantula. Apparently displeased with this the giant beast settled down to sit where it was, Ashton – his leg mangled from the pincers – hanging limply from its claws. Leshia felt almost sorry for the boy.

" Help me," Ashton tried weakly. Leshia, not as cruel as the Slytherins, raised her wand to obey him, but then she dropped it again, the benefits of this situation not escaping her. " What are you doing?" Ashton demanded sounding afraid.

" I will help you," Leshia said softly. " But you have to help me first. Where is my mother?" Ashton's eyes went wide and he looked up at the beast who held him as though sizing up which was worse: to tell or to be eaten, simple choice really.

" Look," he said trying to buy some time. " I don't really know…" But Leshia started to walk away, her heart in her mouth, praying with all her might that her bluff would work. " Okay fine! I'll tell you! I know these people, they found out where your mum was after I told them you'd found her again. They moved to capture her, I know where they're holding her…Argh!" The Acromantula, apparently bored now with the situation was now chomping down on Ashton's leg.

" Oh no you don't!" Leshia hissed and she raised her wand in the direction of the beast's many eyes and repeated her fire incantation. The fire burnt the horrid creature, which let out a screech and dropped a bleeding Ashton to the ground. Driving it back Leshia repeated her incantation again and again, until the black creature escaped into the bushes where the sounds of many of its brothers could be heard approaching.

" We have to get out of here," Ashton whimpered, looking at his mangled leg.

" Don't worry, I've got an escape plan," Leshia assured him and she moved towards the bushes at the side of the clearing, but once more Ashton had her ankle.

" Don't leave me," he cried, his eyes wide with terror. Leshia felt incredibly bad for what she had done to him.

" I'm not going anywhere, just trust me," she told him soothingly and released his bloody fingers from her ankle before rushing off. Moments later she was back with her broom and with great difficulty she settled them both on top of it. Her timing couldn't have been better had it been choreographed, as at this moment dozens of angry Acromantulas filled the clearing.

" Take off!" Ashton cried and Leshia kicked off from the ground furiously. They rose quicker than she had intended and both nearly lost their grip. " I thought you were supposed to be good at flying."

" Will you shut up," Leshia grumbled and she flew them both to safety. As they rose above the foliage the rain, which had been falling for a while now, battered them both and it took her rather longer than normal to bring them to the safety of the main entrance where her friends were waiting for them, their eyes wide with fear. Leshia ignored their relieved utterances as she helped Ashton from the broom and inside the castle. Amazingly, they encountered no resistance on their way to the hospital wing, but once they reached it all manner of chaos ensued. Professor McGonagall happened to visiting at the time of their rather dramatic entrance, and seeing his chance for payback the highly ungrateful Ashton started screaming,

" She attacked me! Malfoy attacked me!" Madam Pomfry was quick to see to his leg, while Professor McGonagall tried desperately to reprimand an extremely furious Leshia. Eventually she managed to escape McGonagall when she strode off to fetch Draco and taking her chance – Madam Pomfry had rushed off to get the right ointments – Leshia fell upon Ashton, grabbing his injured leg fiercely. He wailed in pain.

" Now you tell me Ashton! You tell me right now or so help me I'll kill you where you stand!" she hissed, her eyes furious. Ashton managed to laugh through his pain and he shook his head. Leshia smiled wickedly and squeezed his leg tighter, relishing in the screams of pain the boy was emitting.

" Stop that this instant!" Madam Pomfry cried out and she tried to pull Leshia free from the boy, but she wasn't budging. Eventually she had had enough and she stood back from Ashton and looked up at the nurse with the angriest face she could muster.

" He is responsible for my mother's disappearance, now you will get out of my way until he tells me where they are keeping her!" she bellowed with such anger and conviction that Madam Pomfry stepped backwards. Wheeling around on the boy again Leshia had no need to grab his leg once more as he had decided to speak after realising he'd said too much anyway.

" No don't!" he cried when he saw her reaching for his leg. " I don't know where she's being held, but I can give you two names. Danik and Allaiya Seer." Leshia glared him in the eye. " I'm telling the truth, I swear!"

" You'd better be," the girl whispered and she pulled back, her strength failing her. The gash in her side had been more serious than she'd thought and she collapsed to the ground, just about managing to reach out and grab the railing of the neighbouring bed. Her eyes started to swim with clouds and she just about remained aware of Draco and Professor McGonagall rushing in. They couldn't see her at first.

" Where is she?" Draco asked through narrowed eyes. He was taking in the boy's injuries, aware that Leshia could never have inflicted such damage, he was angry with the deception and Minerva's naivety. Madam Pomfry turned around and was surprised to see that Leshia had collapsed – she had been too concerned with Ashton's leg.

" Oh dear," she uttered and she quickly lifted Leshia from the ground onto the bed she clung to.

" Leshia," Draco managed and he rushed forward taking in her injuries. " She's bleeding to death, help her Poppy!" he cried out. Madam Pomfry ushered him out the way and within moments had expertly sealed the wound that was causing all the trouble, she then fed some obnoxious looking mixture down the girl's throat before turning back on her wailing charge once more.

" Dad," Leshia managed, trying to sit up, the clouds not clearing from her vision. " Danik and Allaiya Seer, you have to question them! They know where mum is!" Draco looked her in the eye for a few moments, before finally he smiled and kissed her forehead firmly.

" You're just a chip off the old block aren't you?" he asked fondly, releasing her bloody hand from his shirt and stepping back. " I have to go inform Crayik, will you be all right?" Leshia smiled and shrugged.

" Never better," she managed and with that Draco rushed out, aware that time was of the essence and they had to move fast before these two culprits found out they were being hunted. Had Leshia thought her ordeal was over, then she was very much mistaken as now McGonagall stepped into her eye line.

" I want an explanation this instant Miss Malfoy," the furious teacher demanded. Leshia sighed and looked over to the snivelling boy she had endangered and then rescued.

" I didn't do that to him," she said softly. " We were attacked by an Acromantula, I rescued him the ungrateful lunatic!" McGonagall fumed a little.

" And what were you doing in the Forbidden Forest, or are you trying to tell me that an Acromantula was just wandering across the grounds?" Leshia smiled and shook her head.

" I was interrogating him," she said, and before McGonagall could fume any longer she added quickly. " Professor, we now have two very good leads to find my mum, if you care for her even a little bit then please, you'll understand."

XXX

Leshia and Ashton healed quickly, and by the following morning they were released. The sooner the better, as someone had constantly had to be on guard lest the pair try to finish each other off. They were the most troublesome charges Madam Pomfry had ever had to deal with and when she discharged them she was happy to see the back of them. Leshia managed to ascertain from Draco that the two names she had procured belonged to a dark wizard and witch, who were now being interrogated. Draco had no doubt that they would 'crack' and he was so proud with his daughter that every time they passed one and other in the corridor he looked as though he wanted to lift her from her feet and hug her. As such Leshia and her friends started avoiding him in the corridors lest he fail to restrain himself and make her the laughing stock of the school.

A week somehow passed from the traumatic events of that day and Leshia began to lose hope that all that effort had been in vein. Even Draco was looking less inclined to smother her every time they passed, but one incredibly boring History of Magic lesson, this all changed.

" And so the goblin men of the west went on strike, demanding to be allowed to wear the pink frilly pinafores their…" Professor Binns was droning on to a semi-conscious audience of tired first-years, when the door flung open and a triumphant looking Draco stepped in.

" Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow Miss Malfoy," he said to the ghost, who had barely looked up from his text. He barely nodded, but no matter, Leshia had already been wrenched to her feet and was being frog marched out of the classroom.

" Dad have you gone mad?" she whispered hoarsely as he shut the door blocking out the nineteen curious faces that had followed them.

" We know where they're holding her, she's still alive," her father practically exploded. Leshia's jaw dropped and a torrent of emotion flooded through her bringing tears to her eyes.

" Really?"

" I'm going along with the rescue mission to find her," Draco explained.

" When?"

" Tomorrow morning."

" Dad?" Leshia asked softly, her eyes trained on the floor in front of her, not for one moment thinking she would be allowed. " Can I come?" Her father paced round her and dropped to his knees his deliriously happy face filling her eye line.

" Why do you think I've come to get you? Of course you're coming!"

XXXXXXX

End of Part IV


	5. Part Five

Thank you so much for your reviews! They're what keep me writing!

**Part V**

Later that afternoon Leshia was sat in Draco's study, her chin leaning on the back of the sofa, she was peering into her father's bedroom as a suitcase started packing itself. Excruciatingly, after Draco's announcement she had been sent back into her History of Magic lesson, but had not been able to concentrate one bit. In a feverishly written note she had divulged what her father had told her to her friends and now they were every bit as excited as she was. Luckily for the girls History of Magic was their last lesson for the day and the trio had marched straight over to Draco's study, where he was talking with Dumbledore himself. The kindly old headmaster had risen to his feet upon seeing the girls and twinkled conspiratorially at Draco.

" Of course Leshia may have the time off," he had said, before leaving Draco with three extremely inquisitive girls.

" So it's definite, I'm coming?" Leshia had asked gleefully and she and the girls had pressed Draco for information on where they were going and how they were getting there, but the young man hadn't the time for their twittering and had sent them away grumpily. There was too much for him to organise without having to deal with their nonsense. Leshia had managed to stay away a mere hour and now she was back. This time she hadn't been sent away and finally she knew she was going to get some answers.

" So where is are we going?" she asked curiously, tearing her gaze away from the bag that was being filled with muggle clothes.

" A small place in Holland," Draco explained. Leshia wrinkled her brow.

" Holland? How did they get her to Holland?" she asked. Draco raised his hands to the air in his trademark, 'I don't know, so drop it' way. Leshia could see he was on edge and knew better than to go into 'annoying mode'.

" How are we getting there?" she asked eagerly.

" Well you're probably going to get very excited by this," Draco warned as he sat down behind his desk and leafed through some papers. " But we're going to have to take muggle transport."

" Really?" Leshia squealed, over-the-moon excited now.

" Yes really," Draco chuckled. " You're too young to apparate and I don't want to risk us being detected on the floo network. We have to enter the country in complete secrecy. Holland isn't very big, and there's a deeply ingrained dark wizarding community there, they'll know if we enter by magical means. So we're taking one of those flying things…what are they called?"

" A plane?" Leshia asked eagerly. Draco nodded grimly, evidently not thrilled about this arrangement.

" Well there's more Leshia, now don't overreact," Draco warned. " Severus is coming with us." Leshia lost her smile in an instant.

" What?" she demanded angrily.

" I warned you," Draco admonished, giving her a warning look that read loud and clear to drop it. " He's our best link to that world Leshia, we need him. Albus and Minerva are coming too, so perhaps that might cheer you up." The thought did indeed bring a smile to Leshia's face, but that was only because she was trying to imagine, Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore in muggle attire sat side by side on a muggle plane.

" Is everyone allowed to just take time off then whenever they feel like it?" Leshia asked grumpily, she was feeling slightly disappointed now, she had hoped she and Draco might be able to spend some time together, but that was clearly not going to happen.

" It's only a week until the Easter holidays anyway, and hopefully, rescuing your mother shouldn't take too long," Draco said softly and he hung his head a little, secretly hoping everything was going to be all right. Leshia could see he was worried and she got to her feet finally, before shuffling over to his desk and sitting down opposite her father. Now did she see the dark shadows under his eyes, he too had apparently been worried this last week and now, he was doubly worried as they were due to set off and find his wife. Part of him feared what they might find.

" If we find her dad and she comes back…" Leshia trailed off, reaching out and fingering one of the many interesting artefacts on her father's desk. " What will happen to you? Will you go back to London?" Draco quickly reached out and released her hand from the artefact she had absent-mindedly been stroking – it had started to glow bright green and was emitting a yellowish smoke.

" I don't know Leshia," he said softly and he squeezed her hand before letting it go. " I think I kind of like it here," he added with a shrug, looking around his dingy study stuffed full to the brim of his possessions.

" Well mum could also come and teach, I bet they could start up a whole new subject for her, Professor Dumbledore adores her!" Leshia gushed excitedly.

" Well don't get your hopes up little one, we don't even know if your mother is going to be the same Hermione we knew all those years ago," her father said softly, voicing for the first time the niggling fear that had been growing since he found out his wife was alive and captured. " Now go on, you'd better go and pack," Draco said getting to his feet and lifting up a duffel bag. " Remember, muggle clothes, try not to bring anything too magical!" Leshia nodded and took the bag from his hand before turning on heel and heading for the door. Once there she stopped and turned around to see Draco's head was hanging.

" We will get her back dad, and everything will go back to normal, just wait!" she said firmly. Draco smiled and looked up at the childish hope in his daughter's face and he hadn't the heart to tell her otherwise.

" I'm sure you're right sweetheart, now go on, we're getting up early tomorrow," Draco said getting back to the papers on his desk. Leshia wanted to try and make him see how sure she was that everything was going to be all right, but she could see he was highly temperamental and could snap, and the last thing she wanted was for him to be grumpy on this exciting journey of theirs. So she took off and raced back to Gryffindor against the stream of people heading down for dinner. Rachel and Katie were waiting for her eagerly in the common room and after Leshia had dispatched the duffel bag they headed down to dinner, while she told them everything she knew.

" So you're going on a muggle plane tomorrow to Holland with your dad, Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore?" Rachel finally repeated sounding incredulous. Leshia nodded eagerly.

" Rather you than me," Katie chuckled. " But why can't they apparate over there?"

" Because apparently Holland is like a breeding ground for dark wizards," Leshia said drolly rolling her hand as though this were old news. " And they'd detect them…or something like that."

" Well you know what this means," Rachel said cheerfully, looking to Katie with a big smile. Katie furrowed her brow and shook her head. " Well with all those teachers gone, I'll bet they give us and early holiday!"

XXX

That evening Leshia packed her bag with her most muggle-like clothes. This in itself wasn't terribly difficult, as like most youngsters, she tended to dress in their jeans, T-shirts and jumpers anyway. Only the very old wizards and witches donned full robes these days, even Draco and her friends' parents took to wearing muggle clothes, in fact, Draco had even started to teach in Jeans these days, something that had spawned a revolution amongst the younger teachers' dress code.

Staring around at her possessions, Leshia failed to understand how she was to pack anything non-magical. Practically everything she owned was magical. She would have liked to have taken her quidditch book so she could show her mother how she had helped win the quidditch cup, but when she remembered that muggles didn't have moving pictures and books that refreshed themselves she hastily unpacked it. In the end she ended up taking a few of her class textbooks and some parchment. She had several essays to write before the following Friday and assuming she would have some free time – and her father's undivided attention and help – she would easily finish them.

By nightfall the girl was far too excited to sleep. Rachel and Katie, seemingly in a similar state, joined her on her bed and for hours they discussed the finer details of the journey Leshia was about to embark on. They didn't seem to mention Hermione or the state they would find her in, though each and every one of them was thinking about it. It was only when they got on to the topic of this muggle travel once more that Leshia froze.

" The take off is the worst, that's what Rodeo was telling me…" Rachel drifted off and frowned at Leshia's white drawn face. " Leesh? It's probably not _that_ scary, I mean we all know Rodeo's a wuss…"

" No it's not that," Leshia cut her off. " It's my passport!"

" What's a passport?" Katie asked, her brow furrowed.

" It's a muggle thing, they need them if they travel abroad," Leshia explained hurriedly. " My mum always made sure we had them, but over Christmas my dad burned ours. He thought I was going to run away to Mexico," she added seeing the curious looks on her friends' faces.

" So you don't have a passport thing?"

" Well I've got to tell dad, he's probably forgotten!" The girls glanced about themselves, as though expecting Draco to suddenly appear, but of course, he did not. Leshia however, was looking oddly triumphant, in a grim sort of way. " I don't want to have to do this…but I don't feel like going all the way down there at this time of night…" The girls sat shuffled away from their friend, wondering what had her looking so defeated. " Tally?"

With a pop the ugly houself appeared, evidently a little groggy, as though she had just been sleeping moments ago. Katie and Rachel, who had braced themselves for the arrival of the bad-tempered helper shuffled right off the end of the bed leaving Leshia alone with her father's help.

" Tally, I need you to ask my dad something," Leshia said firmly. Tally, evidently not forgetting Leshia's recent treatment of her – both on Valentine's Day and at Christmas – lifted her nose snootily into the air.

" Ask Master something?" she repeated sounding disinclined to help. Leshia nodded wearily.

" It's dreadfully important Tally, honest!" The Elf rose her nose even higher into the air, and looking as though she was about to fall over, she finally nodded. Leshia beamed at elf. " You have to ask him about passports. You have to tell him that none of us have got any. How are we going to go on a muggle plane. You got all that?" Tally gave her a withering expression before disappearing into thin air once more.

" You should be more easy going with her," Katie said softly and looked away sheepishly when both Rachel and Leshia turned on her with exasperated expressions. Before they had a chance to reply Tally was back, this time catching the girls by surprise.

" Master is asleep," Tally announced. Leshia furrowed her brow.

" Well wake him up, didn't I say this was important?"

" Tally cannot wake master, Tally is forbidden…"

" Tally!" Leshia complained angrily. " If you don't wake him up then I'm going to give you clothes," the girl threatened. Tally's eyes went wide – she was smitten with the Malfoy household and loved working for Draco, even though it meant she had to take that little madam under her wing too. The thought of clothes and freedom was a little too much for her and so with a pop she disappeared once more. Leshia rolled her eyes.

" Can't wake him up," she grumbled. " This is a matter of life or death and she's going on about…" Once more the pop and flash startled the three girls into silence and Tally appeared looking triumphant.

" Master says he has everything under control," Tally gushed, her black eyes swelling with pride. " Master also says that Miss Leshia is to go to sleep right this instant and that Tally is allowed to make sure she does." Leshia looked to her friends with wide eyes and uttered a quick 'goodnight' before she snuggled down under her blankets and pushed Tally away.

" I'm sleeping now okay? You can go back to whatever it is you do…" The grey hazy smoke filled Leshia's bed as Tally's disgruntled face disappeared causing the girl to dive for cover under her blankets. " Damn houself," she grumbled furiously.

XXX

Had Leshia believed herself to be free from the pesky houself then she was very much mistaken. Followed by a soft prodding in her side Leshia prized her eyes open, only to have her line of vision filled with the exaggerated features of the houself she'd loathed many a year.

" Tally," Leshia gasped, shuffling back in bed to get away from the green pest.

" Miss Leshia is to get dressed and join Master in the great hall, hurry," Tally relayed before she disappeared into the dawn light that was filtering through Leshia's curtains. It was still early yet and after quickly changing into a suitably muggle-like outfit Leshia picked up her bag and hurried over to her friends' beds. One by one she peered in and after gently waking them up she gave them beaming smiles and uttered her quiet goodbyes. She felt oddly tearful leaving them behind, but this was soon overcome by excitement that soon she was to be reunited with her mother. She positively flew down the stairs until she rushed into the great hall and found her father eating breakfast with the other members of their rescue 'team'. Feeling extremely self-conscious Leshia eyed her usual position at the now-empty Gryffindor table and wondered where she was going to sit.

" Come over here you silly girl," Draco grumbled – his aversion to mornings showing through. Leshia grinned and rushed up to the table and took the seat beside her father.

" Good morning," she said brightly to the assembled teachers. McGonagall and Dumbledore smiled pleasantly back at her, but Snape avoided her eyes and Draco glared at her, his mouth full of toast.

" You made that dratted houself wake me up last night," he grumbled once he'd swallowed his food. " I couldn't get back to sleep afterwards."

" Yeah," Leshia said with a shrug as she helped herself to some food. " Well it was important, I thought you might have forgotten." Draco continued to glare at her as he lifted a manila envelope and poured out the contents – several maroon passport-looking things – onto the table.

" Crayik sorted these out for us last night," her father explained and then stifled a yawn.

" Oh, well good right?" Leshia said happily, for the first time looking around at the assembled teachers. She instantly had to stifle her laughter as she took in their muggle attire. Dumbledore looked the most bizarre, in a brown suit and his long flowing hair and beard. McGonagall was possibly equally as humorous in her own trouser suit, her hair still held tightly back in a bun. They looked like a very serious and bizarre couple. Snape donned a black ensemble: black trousers, black shirt and black jumper. He looked menacing enough and Leshia was sure the muggles would be terrified at the sight of him. Her father looked no different to the way he had appeared in her last lesson – jeans, a long sleeved ribbed T-shirt…he merely looked like himself, but sat amongst these newly muggle-dressed teachers he looked oddly out of place, though Leshia couldn't figure out why.

" Where are we taking this plane thing from?" she asked curiously, realising she had been staring at everyone a little too long.

" A city called Glasgow," Draco replied tiredly.

" And how are we getting there?"

" Portkey." Leshia had many more questions, but she could see that she was treading a fine line. Draco was evidently displeased with her, and there was a hint of something else – he was afraid. Afraid of what state they were going to find Hermione in, afraid, that she wouldn't recognise him. Throughout the remainder of this bizarre breakfast Dumbledore regaled the group with stories of his few visits to Holland. Leshia was excited to hear that most of the 'good' wizards and witches of Holland resided together in a community known as the Waddendaal – where the only wizarding school in the country existed, the Dutch magical ministry called home and where most of the magical community lived – whose location was a firmly kept secret. She also managed to ascertain that this is where they would be staying while they searched for Hermione.

After breakfast Leshia followed the small group of teachers through to the teachers' chambers behind the great hall and through to a small room that didn't look particularly special. Everyone was collecting together their baggage and bearing down on the only table in the room, which peculiarly only held an old inkpot.

" Leshia come on," Draco ordered, and Leshia quickly rushed over, pushing in between Draco and McGonagall. One by one the teachers reached out and touched the inkpot and after an urgent look from her father Leshia did the same. For a moment nothing happened, but then, as though a fishhook had reached into her belly button, Leshia felt herself dragged forward. After several moments of unpleasant jostling between her father and her House leader, Leshia was relieved to find they had arrived at their destination – a sterile looking room that was very much out of place with anything Leshia had ever seen. She quickly jumped back from the inkpot and straightened her clothes, while the teachers all made for the only door in the room.

" Are we in Glasgow?" Leshia asked Draco softly. He could see her unease and finally eased up a little; it was cowardly after all, to take out his nerves on his young daughter.

" Yes we're at the airport," he replied and placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair slightly. Feeling comforted Leshia peered out of the door Dumbledore had now opened into a hive of muggle activity. " Just stay close to me, I know this is all terribly fascinating to you," he continued, looking out at the muggles with unease.

" I will," Leshia said and she grinned up at him before stepping out into the check-in hall at the busy airport. She was true to her word and followed her father as though she were attached to him on a small tether. Even when the small group had no clue which direction in which to go, and all they managed to do was march up and down the check-in aisles, she kept her eyes fixed firmly on her father's back. Finally it would seem they had found the right desk and they joined a queue of fascinating looking muggles. Leshia couldn't tear her eyes off them as they played with their gadgets – strange things they talked into, little plugs attached to what looked like string stuffed into their ears, strange silver books with keys, that flashed different things on a screen…fascinating! Finally they reached the front of the queue and Draco ushered Leshia forward to a desk where an impatient looking woman suddenly glowed red and batted her eyelashes up at Draco. He frowned cautiously at her, as though she was contagious and quickly held out their shiny new passports along with the plane tickets Crayik had procured for them.

" Amsterdam is your final destination?" the muggle woman asked, blatantly ogling the poor man with no shame. Draco nodded quickly. " I'm afraid that the plane is overbooked, so I won't be able to seat you together…"

" Oh," Draco uttered and he looked down at his daughter to see she was absent-mindedly staring at something that was undoubtedly fascinating to her in the distance. She would probably be too distracted to notice where she was sitting. In fact she probably wouldn't notice if they strapped her to the wing. " Fine."

" Do you have any luggage you wish to check in?" the muggle asked, leaning forward suggestively and for an excuse to get away Draco quickly turned his attention to putting their bags onto the luggage belt. After what seemed like a barrage of questions – did you pack this yourself, could anyone have tampered with it… - in which Draco clutched onto his daughter's shoulders as though the world were coming to an end, they were finally given their 'boarding cards' and were told which way to go. Uttering his thanks and ignoring the adoring look the muggle was casting him, Draco dragged Leshia away to where the others were waiting.

" Muggles are peculiar things," Draco grumbled once they had reached them.

" Oh dad come on," Leshia laughed. " That one just fancied you that's all!" Ignoring this revelation the small party of stunned magical folk made their way through the excruciatingly long cues until they reached passport control. Dumbledore was the only one halted and for one frightening moment it looked as though they weren't going to let him through, but finally they did and on to the next hurdle them ambled: the mechanical nightmare that was the metal detector. Try as they might, the little party couldn't get the hang of it and every time they went through they set off the dratted things. Spare coins, odd little magical titbits that had lain long forgotten in barely used clothes and even a large set of jangling keys (Dumbledore could have sworn he had left those behind) all set the machines off and finally, after annoying the muggle security team into a state of frenzy, they managed to get through into the departure lounge.

" I need a drink," Draco announced heading for what he hoped was a muggle pub. Leshia followed haplessly, her attention being drawn this was and that, until finally as Draco collapsed on a barstool, she caught her first glimpse of a plane.

" Wow!" she gasped. " Dad look! It's huge!" Draco tore his eyes from his well-earned beer and soon wished he hadn't.

" Oh God," he managed and quickly focused his attention back on his drink.

" Do you really think these things can fly?" Leshia asked curiously, swivelling round on her barstool.

" I'd really rather not think about it sweet…"

" Those little wheels barely look like they can hold it…hey, do you think those wings flap, then it might be able to…"

" Leshia," Draco exclaimed sounding agonised, and he looked about the small departure lounge wearily. There were no evident signs of danger: excepting the foolish muggles that were swarming around in hoards. " Why don't you go and explore huh?" A large smile filled Leshia's face and she jumped from her stool. " Not too far!" Draco called after her, before he dropped his head again, trying his very best not to look out the window at the muggle-monstrosity, which looked too big to be allowed, let alone to fly. Fear of flying had never been something Draco had had to deal with before.

Leshia, taking advantage of her newfound freedom, roamed the airport with a large grin on her face. So this was the world her mother had known once. It was extremely loud she deducted almost straight away. Muggles were an unusually loud folk, and here, in the comfort of the squishy airport seats the gadgets she had found so interesting were coming out in force. Everywhere she looked muggles clutched at conveniently sized electronic things. For a moment Leshia pondered at a life without magic and realised her wand was probably capable of all those things.

'Poor muggles,' she thought as she saw a girl her own age struggle past with a large bag and several gadgets – one pushed up to her right ear, a strange plug and string thing in her other, a black shiny screen thing in her hand blearing tinny music and one of those silver book things under her arm. 'They must get sore backs carrying all that around.' After glimpsing McGonagall and Dumbledore sitting rigidly by the window in hushed discussion, and fearing they might include her, Leshia did an about turn only to find Snape bearing down on her, the muggles before him darting out of his way. The only escape route she could see was a small muggle shop and so Leshia darted towards it. Inside young muggles swarmed around looking in the glass displays at more of these gadget things and Leshia blindly followed. She noted that most of these things were very expensive, some equally as expensive as her near-flight to Mexico – which at the time she had thought to be extortionate, it had wiped out her life savings. Thinking longingly back to the pile of money Draco had made her leave behind, she wished she had it now, so she could purchase several of these things to play with on their journey.

" Miss Malfoy," Snape's unpleasant drawl came in her ear. " What are you doing?"

" Dad said I could explore," Leshia countered defiantly, spinning around and seeing the potions master was looking highly uncomfortable to be surrounded by so many muggles.

" He should know better," Snape hissed. " You're drawing attention to us." Leshia furrowed her brow and looked about herself. The young muggles were staring in awe at the black clad thundercloud that was stalking around, rather than at herself.

" No sir I think…" she began, but Snape already had her under the arm and was guiding her out, back to the pub where Draco was recovering slightly from his initial shock of being confronted with the metallic nightmare he was going to have to go on.

" Perhaps," Snape said loudly as he pushed Leshia onto the stool beside her father. " It would be prudent for us all to remain together." Draco nodded distantly.

" Good idea," he uttered and he downed his drink. " let's go find the others."

" I know where they are," Leshia chirruped and she leapt from her stool pushing through the crowds, ignoring Snape calling after her to slow down. Slowing down was the last thing on Leshia's mind and soon she dropped down beside her head master, who turned to smile warmly at her.

" Your mother will be pleased to see how much you enjoy this world she still loves," Dumbledore said kindly. Leshia grinned sheepishly and looked out the window at the metal birds that stood vigilantly in the bleak weather.

" I don't think I could manage as a muggle," she said instead. " Too expensive and then there's all that carting around."

" Miss Malfoy!" Snape was back, but whatever lecture he had in mind could wait as Dumbledore turned to smile at him, a hidden message in his serious eyes. Now, with the floor to ceiling windows exposing the fleet of metallic monstrosities, Draco veritably collapsed in a seat as far from the window as possible.

" I think my dad's afraid of flying," Leshia whispered to the headmaster who chuckled warmly.

" Only once have I had to fly on one of these planes before," he said looking nostalgic. " As I recall, it was a very bumpy experience, it was quite enjoyable actually." A strange sound escaped from Draco's direction and he soon excused himself to rush off to the bathrooms. Leshia watched him go worriedly, before lowering her head.

" It's not like him to be afraid sir," she said softly. Dumbledore smiled genially.

" With the pressure he is under Leshia, it is not surprising for him to be acting a little out of sorts," he explained soothingly. The girl nodded to herself.

" Do you think professor, when we find mum…well do you think she'll…" the girl trailed off.

" Be as she was before?" Dumbledore finished and his smile was so kind that Leshia pushed away any fears she had. " We cannot know this Leshia, we can only hope." This had evidently not been the answer the girl had been hoping for, as her face fell quite notably. " One thing I do know however, is that your mother was one of the most able witches I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I know this as much as I know that she cared so much for you, her precious little girl, that she would have moved mountains to be with you." A small smile spread across the girl's face and she nodded.

" I hope so professor," she said and looked up as Draco struggled back to the group. " Because I think it would kill him if we lost her again."

XXX

An hour later, the now very subdued rescue party made their way down the gangplank and onto the muggle plane. Trying her very best to ignore Draco's deathly white face and his terrified expression Leshia struggled through the dawdling passengers until she reached her seat: 12A.

" Um, excuse me, but that's my seat," Leshia said to the young woman sat in 12C. She was trying her very best to be polite and it paid off as the woman smiled warmly at her and got up to allow her through. " I'm Leshia," she then said happily once she'd taken her place. Unaware of normal plane etiquette, she didn't seem to notice the surprised smile on the young woman's face: she too, you see, was a talker.

" Jenny," she said with a twinkling smile and she reached out her hand. " Nice to meet you Leshia." Down the aisle Draco and the other Hogwarts crew were still stuck behind an obstacle course of dawdling passengers, but from her position Leshia could make out the suspicious look that had temporarily sneaked onto Draco's drawn face as he watched the woman sitting beside his daughter. It was a point in favour of Jenny's favourable disposition that she didn't turn and ogle Draco as he walked over to his seat in 11D, as most other young (and old) women were turning to give him surreptitious glances. Jenny couldn't help but notice though when Draco turned around in his chair and sat watching them both with narrowed eyes.

" That's my dad," Leshia quickly explained. " We've never been on a plane before, he's a little frightened." Jenny smiled kindly at Draco, something that put him off and forced him to turn around again, but Jenny wasn't done.

" Excuse me mister," she said reaching out and tugging on his shirt. " Would you like to swap seats so you can sit with your daughter?" Surprised by this muggle kindness, Draco was very much inclined to agree, but looking at Leshia he could see she was enjoying this chance to interact with muggles, and after all, he wouldn't be very good company so he shook his head.

" No," he said brusquely. " Thank you though." Jenny frowned thoughtfully and sat back in her seat.

" Fair enough," she finally chirruped with a shrug, but then her attention was drawn by McGonagall and Dumbledore sidling past, both giving Leshia twinkling smiles. " Let me guess, grandparents?" Jenny asked once they'd moved to the rear of the plane. Leshia opened her mouth to object, but it never came.

" Yeah," she managed instead. " Something like that."

" And this guy?" Jenny asked suddenly, her eyes focused down the aisle on Snape, who was staring at Leshia and Jenny the same way Draco had.

" Evil uncle," the young girl whispered back. Jenny laughed raucously, but stifled it when Snape took the seat in front of Leshia.

" So what are you going to Holland for?" Jenny asked conversationally as she did her seatbelt up. Leshia quickly struggled to copy her.

" We're going to uh, collect my mum and bring her home," Leshia said, trying to put it as carefully as she could. In front of her Snape made a strangled sounding cough, as though urging her not to speak with the loud and obnoxious muggle. The girl flat out ignored his hint, and continued on, " She's been on a long trip."

" Oh, anywhere far away?" Jenny asked sounding intrigued, noting the sad look on her young companion's face and making a mental note to change the topic of conversation as quickly as possible.

" Very far away," Leshia sighed as the plane dipped at the front and they started rolling away. As the rehearsed message from the flight bursar relayed over the speakers, Leshia and the rest of her group listened carefully. They paid even closer attention as the flight attendants demonstrated the proper use of the evacuation procedures and by the time the plane had trundled over to the end of the runway and the flight crew had taken their seats, Draco was positively shaking with nerves.

The speed of the thing! The only muggle transport Leshia had ever taken was a car and that definitely didn't race across the tarmac as fast as this thing did. She was well accustomed to such speeds on a broom, but not strapped to a seat and moving on wheels. Just when she didn't think she could take the pressure anymore the plane dipped once more and finally they were lifting off into the air. Across the aisle, Draco gripped the armrests frantically, his knuckles turning white, his eyes pressed shut, and right ahead Leshia could have sworn she heard Snape utter a groaning sound. What was wrong with them? This was _fantastic!_

" Having fun?" Jenny asked with a wide smile. Leshia grinned and nodded.

" This is amazing!" she exclaimed as they climbed higher and the airport started to give way to the clouds. The young girl didn't quite find it amazing when they hit turbulence; Draco certainly didn't and Leshia regretted him not taking up Jenny's offer, he looked so miserable. Snape it would seem reacted the worst to the whole turbulence ordeal, as the moment the seatbelt sign was switched off he darted to his feet, his face entirely green and rushed to the back of the plane. Leshia sat up slightly in her seat and watched him go with an expression of glee, catching sight as she did so, professor McGonagall giving her neighbour – a portly grumpy looking man – a glare, and professor Dumbledore, his head reclined backwards, and loud snores erupting from his open mouth. Stifling a giggle, Leshia sank back into her chair, and after one more look at her white father she shook her head.

'Wizards and the muggle world just don't mix,' she thought to herself fondly.

XXX

The two-hour journey couldn't have gone by quicker for Leshia as she enjoyed a wonderfully deep and humorous conversation with Jenny and relished in her first experience of plane food. The others, suffice to say, couldn't be happier when the plane touched down in the wet and windy landscape that was Schiphol airport. The second they touched down the colour returned to Draco's cheeks a little and he finally let go of the armrests he'd been clinging to for two hours. The girl was sad to say goodbye to her newfound muggle friend, but as she stood up in the aisle she was clasped into the arms of her father and hurried away.

" Never," Draco muttered sounding more sincere than Leshia had ever heard him. " Ever, am I going on one of those death boxes again!" Leshia giggled.

" Didn't you think the turbulence was fun dad?" The dark look he cast her caused Leshia to giggle even more and she didn't stop until they came to the arduous task of waiting for their luggage.

" How are we getting to the commune?" Leshia asked curiously, but she was suddenly silenced by four urgent looks.

" Don't speak of it here you silly girl," Snape snapped, and he in turn was silenced by three unimpressed looks and one cocky look.

" You'll see," Draco said softly, and no more was spoken between the five of them until they had collected their bags and walked out into the arrivals area of the massive airport. As though following some plan Leshia wasn't aware of she followed the adults through the maze like airport until they reached some moving ramps – which Leshia thought were absolutely out-of-this-world – and they found themselves in a long corridor with lots of windows. Ahead of them muggles were waiting in line to put money and tickets into these odd yellow machines and beyond them stood a small party of people so obviously wizarding in nature it wasn't funny. Leshia instantly recognised all three faces: Minister Crayik, dressed in a white linen suit despite the rain that was bearing down on the windswept landscape, Ron Weasley, dressed in too-tight jeans and a reindeer jumper, and Harry Potter, the only reasonably dressed one of the lot. Leshia couldn't contain her excitement at seeing the latter two, they had always been like favoured uncles to the young girl, and upon seeing them now she careened forward and into their awaiting arms.

" What are you doing here?" she beamed as she pulled back.

" Same as you of course," Ron said fondly as the rest of Leshia's party caught up with them and everyone got reacquainted before they were hurried off by an impatient Crayik to mundane looking estate car.

" Right everyone in," Crayik announced and he opened the back door. Pretty sure that they weren't all going to fit, Leshia watched in amazement as one by one all the adults climbed into the back.

" Leshia come on," Draco ordered and as Leshia peered in she was amazed to find the backseat of the car was unusually stretched and spacious. She quickly climbed in and the door was shut behind her.

" How…" she began, but she could see Ron was beaming at her.

" My dad taught me a thing or two," he said cheerfully. Seemingly, it was unsafe to talk – or everyone was unwilling to – as no one said a word the entire half an hour journey along the non-distinct Dutch motorways. Leshia couldn't imagine a duller country, as she stared out at the endless flat fields, intermittently divided by smelly looking bogs. She was slightly more enthused when they turned off the motorway onto a small lane that led into a wooded area and slowly, the muggles started phasing out.

" Where are we?" she finally dared to ask.

" The Hague wood," Crayik replied from the front. " Don't know how to pronounce it the way they do, they'll no doubt correct you, they always do." Leshia frowned at the anger in his tone and looked up at her dad, but he was staring determinedly ahead where a series of structured were emerging behind a massive stonewall. " Welcome," Crayik said grimly. " To the Waddendaal." It was very demure-looking for the stronghold for the good wizards of Holland. One large old stone house surrounded by newer uglier stone abominations that sprawled out like a maze of concrete, it looked extremely depressing. " That there," Crayik explained pointing to the main house central to the compound. " Is the only wizarding school in the country, I couldn't possibly remember the name, but it's not terribly important anyway, only about a hundred children go to it."

" I'm sure they find it important," Leshia said softly, but not soft enough as everyone heard. Crayik chose to ignore her, Snape positively glowered at her, Draco gave her a look as though to say 'don't start', but the other four positively beamed at her. They passed the school of nondescript name – though Leshia could have sworn she saw it right above the old stone entrance, 'Laakstang' it had read, didn't seem to complicated to her – and into a small car park where several old vehicles were pitifully withstanding the battering rains.

" That's where you'll be staying," Crayik said gruffly, pointing across the soggy ground to a concrete box. The small group braved the chilling weather and finally found themselves in a cosy kitchen.

" Ginny," Leshia cried out happily when she saw the reason for the cosiness: Ginny cooking a hot pot of soup over the stove. " You're here too!" The girl threw her arms around Harry's wife and hugged her firmly, trying to ignore the grimness she was surrounded with.

" Leshia," Ginny replied happily. " It's so good to see you, look how you've grown!" It was a barefaced lie, the poor wretch hadn't grown an inch all year, but Ginny felt she looked like she needed mothering. When Leshia pulled away from the cosy familiarity of her mother's dear friend she saw the other occupants of the kitchen, Remus Lupin was sat amongst a collection of Aurors Leshia knew from her childhood, but had never got attached to. They were all smiling kindly at her…or was that sympathetically? Suddenly she felt incredibly overwhelmed by it all and Leshia looked for her father. He instantly saw it in her face.

" Are you going to show us where we're going to stay or shall we blunder about the place trying to find somewhere ?" he asked his old friends with a smile.

" Impatient as always Draco, come on, I'll show you," Ginny chuckled and she left her husband in charge of the soup before leading father and daughter through a maze of cold and sterile corridors until they reached a small room with twin beds in it. " Here you go, it's not much but…"

" It's perfect," Draco said charmingly and he leaned forward and hugged Ginny. " It's good to see you here, when we find Hermione, she'll really appreciate it." Ginny sighed and tears welled up in her eyes – she'd missed her friend so much over the years. " Is Michael here?" Ginny smiled as she thought of her son's indignant expression when he found out he was having to stay behind and miss out on the muggle plane journey.

" No," she said and saw Leshia's face fell. " He's spending some time with my parents, Fred, George, the ladies and their unruly children have descended on them and they thought Michael would love it."

" And Lavender and the girls?" Draco asked hopefully, wishing for some company for his daughter. Ginny made a grim expression and shook her head.

" Lavender is too busy at work to come away, so she's staying with the girls," she explained and though she was expecting to see Leshia's face fall further she was surprised to see it did not; Leshia's dislike of Rachel's annoying little sisters may have had something to do with this. " Look I'll leave you to unwind, lunch will be ready in an hour," Ginny said kindly and Draco nodded to her with a smile.

" Thanks Ginny," he said as she shuffled out. Leshia gave an almighty sigh and felt the awful sinking feeling of an anticlimax.

" What do we do now dad? When do we start to find mum?" she asked tiredly. Draco sighed and sat down on his own lumpy bed.

" That's going to be slightly tricky," he said and watched as Leshia's face crumpled in anger and frustration.

" Of course it is," she chirruped in an overly happy tone.

" Leshia please, we're here now, give it a rest," Draco sighed and he opened his suitcase beside him on the bed and started to lift out his carefully folded clothes. " We don't know exactly where she's being held, we're going to have to do a little more digging."

" So why are we here?"

" Because we know she's being held in The Hague, we just don't know exactly where," Draco said softly. Leshia rolled onto her side facing away from her father; her nose was stinging, a sure sign that tears were on their way. Her father watched her and his heart grew heavy.

" I'm going to get some air," he said gruffly and he climbed to his feet, briefly stooping to place a hand on her side, to offer her some semblance of comfort. She flinched at his touch and the young father felt aggrieved. Leaving her to her misery he went out in search of the kitchen they'd found themselves in, he needed only to follow the subdued conversations.

" Malfoy," Harry cheered when Draco reappeared and after ascertaining that Leshia was not at her father's side, his expression darkened and Draco knew why, they were further from finding his wife than they had first believed.

" Have we got any leads?" he asked as he took a seat at the small table.

" Some, we've got people checking them out," Lupin replied.

" What people? The best are sitting right here," Draco countered seriously.

" Oh Draco, how sweet," Ron said with a grin and he quickly avoided the used teabag Draco flung at him.

" You know what I mean, it's important that we don't trip any security wires, they can't know that we're here!" Draco said stressing the importance of this fact in his tone and strained face.

" We know," Harry said sincerely. " But it's not going to be easy Draco. They took her here for a reason, this place is the only safe hideout for miles around, the rest…" He rolled his hand with a grim expression on his face. While he had been at school, Harry had been unaware of the dark nature of Holland's wizards. To be fair to the Dutch though, a large majority of this dark community were not Dutch, merely immigrants. However, with the large dark influence in the country most muggle born witches and wizards were scooped up by the dark wizards before the community at Waddendaal had a chance to locate them.

" Well," Draco said seriously. " What information do we have?"

XXX

The information turned out to be meagre at best, and for days the team slaved over their scraps of stolen information for hints as to where Hermione could be being held. Leshia wasn't allowed to listen in and was very happy she had brought her work with her, by her first Monday at the Waddendaal she'd completed all her essays and was wondering what on earth she was going to do. It would seem that Draco had a solution to this.

" You're going to go to school," he said at breakfast when Leshia had told him of her predicament. For a moment she thought he was joking a small smile snaked onto her tired-looking face, but when Draco's expression failed to change, hers turned stony.

" You're kidding right?"

" No, you have to do something, you can't just wallow around here all day," he said sounding slightly sympathetic.

" Are you insane?" Leshia demanded pushing her chair back and getting up. " I don't even speak Dutch, how the hell am I going to understand a blimming word they're saying?" Around the table everyone averted their eyes, frantically trying to find something else to pay attention to, as they could see the colour rising in Draco's cheeks, his embarrassment clear as day.

" Complain all you like, you're going," he said and it would seem she was. Try as she might, through tears and tantrums and angry ranting, the girl wasn't able to get out of it and an hour later she found herself being marched across the leafy courtyard to the large dreary looking school house. Draco was unimpressed with her behaviour and didn't even offer her good luck when he deposited her with the school's Headmaster Appeldoorn on the front steps. Leshia scowled at his retreating back, before she looked to the exceedingly dull headmaster with a grim look.

" Come along Leshia, I shall show you your class for the day," the dull man said in a monotone and with a heavy heart Leshia followed him through the dark corridors. Finding herself wishing she had stayed at home at Hogwarts she didn't even notice when they stopped outside a classroom containing only a handful of children. Dressed in their own clothes, they were all working on what looked like transfiguration, trying to turn a match into a pin.

'Easy,' Leshia scoffed to herself and she allowed herself to be led by the class' jolly looking teacher to an empty desk beside an extremely rude looking girl.

" Hi," Leshia tried once the teacher had explained in stunted English what they were doing. Her new neighbour however, flat-out ignored her.

'Maybe she's hard of hearing,' Leshia wondered.

" I'm Leshia," she said in loud slow English. This time, out of annoyance, the girl turned to glare at her.

" Ik heb je gehoord," she said in an equally slow and loud tone. Unsure of a single word she had just heard – and convinced it wasn't very nice – Leshia furrowed her brow in her most putout expression and returned to her box of matches.

'Cow!'

XXX

The rest of the day didn't improve, neither for the rescue team nor for Leshia. The leads the team had so blindly hoped would lead them somewhere had in fact only led to dead ends and every child Leshia encountered either couldn't – or refused – to communicate with her in any other language than angry sounding Dutch. She was assured by the Transfiguration teacher that the children were in fact charming, they were just very suspicious of strangers.

'A likely story,' Leshia had grumbled to herself. By half past three when the day's lessons finally came to an end the girl stalked back across the quad to the temporary base the rescue team had set up. The moods of the members were not any brighter than her own, and that evening dinner was a very grim affair. For two days this rather depressing routine continued, until finally a little ray of hope struck both Leshia and the rescue team. In the kitchen of the concrete box everyone was crowding over a piece of ripped parchment. It was from an unidentifiable source and had been procured by the shiftiest of the aurors, but it had the promise of a very trustworthy lead to Hermione's whereabouts.

" And you're certain of this?" Draco asked the shifty auror, who nodded with a teeth-bearing grin.

" Positive!"

" Right, Harry, Ron, will you come with me to check this out?" The pair seemed honoured to be chosen and agreed instantly, finally glad that things were looking up.

Leshia's stroke of luck was of a different nature, it came in the form of a sociable English-speaking pair of twins: Joske and Sander (" No it's pronounced y, as in year, yos, and then c as in cat, and then uh as in uuhhhh," the girl had tried while reeling in laughter at Leshia's pronunciation of her name. " So it's yos-c-uhhhh?"). The pair had heard of a visitor from England and being terminally curious and having grown up there for the majority of their lives they had swooped down on Leshia over break on Thursday. She had been easy to spot, sitting on her own, glaring furiously at the happy children around her.

" They're all impressed with your magic skills," was the first thing Sander had assured her as he dropped down beside her. Staring with a compliment had been a most fortuitous move on his part as Leshia instantly warmed to the pair and ended up telling them the whole story of her mother's disappearance and the clues leading to her vague location being unearthed. The bell for afternoon classes had gone, but the twins didn't move.

" We think we can help," Joske assured her after the courtyard had emptied. Leshia frowned.

" Really?" she asked wearily, afraid of being disappointed.

" Well our father, he's high up in the Dutch ministry of magic and he says that your rescue team, or rescue disaster as he calls it, isn't getting anywhere," Sander explained. " But there might be someone we know, who can help you."

" Someone _you_ know?" Leshia asked worriedly. The twins flashed two charming smiles at her.

" In London, you have…what is it called…" Joske began, her face crumpling into a thinking expression.

" Diagon Alley?" Leshia supplied with a frown.

" Yes that's it, well we have something similar in Den Haag, we call it Linksaf Laan," Joske carried on. Not even bothering trying to pronounce these alien sounding words Leshia merely urged her to carry on. " Well, it's dangerous there and we have many enemies, but one of them, a particularly nasty man who will undoubtedly know where your mother is, well he owes us a favour."

" How do we get to this Den Hague place?" Leshia asked, her eyes widening, her heart racing with the thought that she could actually do something to help instead of being relegated to playing exchange student for the week. Two conspiratorial smiles slid onto her new friends' faces and grabbing Leshia by a hand each, they dragged her at fighting high speed – Leshia was after all a titch, and these two gigantic Dutch children had much longer legs than she – towards the tree line. Once they breeched it they didn't stop running, and only when Leshia began suspecting that she was in fact being abducted by two dark wizards in disguise did they stop at the mouth of a dark dripping tunnel.

" After you," Leshia said urgently, realising they wanted her to go first.

" Trust us Leshia," Sander said with a grin and he led the way, raising his lit wand up in front of him. It seemed to take them an age to navigate through the dark and dreary tunnels, and when Leshia couldn't bare it any longer she was surprised to find they had reached their destination, a grill into a quiet street above. Moments later they emerged blinking into the sun again and without pausing for questions the twins led her once more towards a busy street where a strange platform like thing had been erected in the centre of it.

" This is a tram stop," Joske explained as they crossed the busy street – Leshia, feeling as though her heart was in her mouth.

" And what's a tram when its at home?" Leshia asked with a frown. The twins glanced to one and other with similar expressions.

" I don't understand, is this a joke?" Sander finally asked. Leshia was about to object to their peculiar behaviour when she realised they had probably not heard that saying before, and that yes, it did rather sound like the beginning of a joke.

" No it's a saying, it means, what the hell is a tram?"

" Oh," the twins exclaimed in unison.

" That's a tram," Joske said and Leshia just about had time to turn around before a thin train like thing rushed past her coming to a screeching halt.

" It's a muggle thing," Sander replied and they bustled Leshia on with the hurrying muggles and onto a slippery leather bench.

" Don't we have to pay?" Leshia asked as she watched the muggles take long strips of paper and push them into an odd clinking machine. The twins grinned.

" They never check, don't worry," Sander assured her and the trip lulled into silence as the rickety tram got moving once more. The Hague turned out to be just as rainy and dreary as the rest of the landscape Leshia had observed on their way from the airport. She wasn't terribly impressed, but glancing at the eager and happy faces of her companions, she hadn't the heart to tell them. After a rocky twenty-minute journey they reached their destination – a mundane deserted looking street – and the twins jostled Leshia off. They led her round the back of a rundown looking house where a garden shed stood rotting in the back garden. Feeling once more that she was being had Leshia stood back while the twins tapped the door three times with their wands and uttered something in Dutch. When the door started to flash white and it creaked open to reveal a dark and dreary looking street straight out of a scary book Leshia felt the urge to run, but to her horror she was being force forward once more.

" Welcome," Sander said with a big grin. " To Linksaf Laan."

XXX

Leshia's sojourn into Linksaf Laan wasn't a terribly long one, as after passing only a few grim looking shops the twins ushered her into a seedy looking pub where most of the occupants sat on rickety barstools with hoods covering their most-likely grim or wanted faces.

" You guys thirsty or something?" Leshia asked wearily, feeling extremely overwhelmed by the whole thing. The only response she got was two flashing smiles before once more she was guided through the pub to a heavy looking door. Sander knocked on it five times.

" Petrus," he called sounding more commanding than Leshia would have believed to be possible. " Petrus we know you're here, don't make things worse for yourself."

" Why is he afraid of you?" Leshia whispered to Joske, who grinned at her darkly.

" He's a squib, he's useless," she replied as the door slowly creaked open revealing the dirty face of a greying man. For a moment Leshia actually felt sorry for him, but then she remembered where she was and why they had come to this man's doorstep and her anger was rekindled.

" Time to repay your favour Petrus," Sander said once more in that surprisingly powerful voice, while Joske ushered Leshia into the dingy room and after furtively looking around the pub, she shut the door.

" I…I…don't know…what…what you mean," the squib stuttered in what sounded like a thick northern European accent.

" Don't play games with us Petrus," Joske sighed exasperatedly. " Don't worry, all we want is information."

" About what?" The stuttering was gone, and after finding out he wasn't going to have to put his neck on the line the squib was looking remarkably better.

" Hermione," Sander said. " Does the name ring any bells?" Judging by the frantic look that briefly flashed across the squib's face, Leshia could have guessed that he did know and she felt renewed anger.

" I don't know what you mean," Petrus uttered.

" Yes you do!" Leshia hissed and she stepped forward.

" Who are you?" Petrus demanded snootily.

" Tell me Petrus," Sander tried. " How many guards have they got on Mevrouw Malfoy huh? How many people must constantly watch her because they fear her power?" The squib squirmed under the tall boy's gaze. " I see. Well Petrus, this young lady is her daughter, so you had better get it together, because she will see to it that you tell us the truth." The squib looked on Leshia with newfound fear before looking away desperately.

" I can't tell you Sander, you know I can't!"

" No?" For a moment the pair were locked in a steady gaze. It would seem that the boy had information about the squib that was of such consequence that finally the squib cracked.

" They'll kill me for this! You had better protect me Sander!" the squib hissed. Sander stepped back.

" Our father always offers you protection you filthy animal," he grumbled. " Now where is she?" Sander stepped forward his wand raised, a furious look on his face, the squib crumbled beneath such a gaze.

" Hobaho hallen!" Sander stepped back triumphantly and grinned at his sister and new friend, though his triumph was short-lived. The children had not noticed the door eking open, nor the three men enter behind them, who had listened in to most of the conversation, but they certainly noticed them now as they lunged forward and lifted Leshia screaming from her feet. What followed was pandemonium as the other two men tried to grab the twins, but agile on their feet and with a perfect knowledge of the escape routes of this bar, they weren't caught and disappeared within moments.

Not to worry, the men thought, they had their prize.

XXX

" Here, this is where she is being held," Harry said pointing down to the map of The Hague to an industrial complex. " In this warehouse. It's heavily guarded, and it's going to be difficult to get in, but we've devised a plan." The entire team was assembled, fifteen of them in total, Draco hoped to God that their number was enough to overthrow the faction taking hiding in the warehouse. It was going to be exceedingly difficult to free his wife, but now they were so close, a renewed fervour had taken over his senses and he wouldn't rest until they had broken down her miserable dungeon and dispelled of her captors, of this much he was certain.

Harry was just about coming to the end of his plan when hurried footsteps sounded outside and after rapturous knocking at the door Ginny opened it causing two tall youths to come tumbling into the kitchen.

" We've lost Leshia!" Was the general consensus of their hurried ramblings. For a moment there was a stunned silence, one in which everyone turned to stare at Draco with wide eyes. Expecting an explosion of emotion they were quite surprised to find he merely hung his head back, squeezed his eyes shut and made an exasperated sound.

" Of course you have," he groaned.

" What do you mean, what happened?" Harry asked with a furrowed brow. The twins glanced to one and other worriedly – knowing they were in such trouble for this – before launching into a detailed description of what had transpired. Only once were they interrupted when they explained where they had taken her, when Draco had burst out, " You took my daughter _there_ of all places?" But for the most part the team listened in patient silence.

" Do you know who these men were?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

" Almost certainly the same men responsible for holding your wife," Sander replied softly.

" Then they know we're here," Harry said dejectedly.

" Maybe not, we didn't mention you," Joske tried and silence filled the room.

" Well we have to act tonight, they might be in the process of moving them as we speak," Draco said determinedly.

" Agreed," a few firm utterances came and so it was agreed, the rescue of Hermione and now Leshia, was going ahead full steam now with added urgency.

XXX

For months now the only company Hermione had enjoyed was the intermittent conversation her burly guards offered her. Often jeering, rarely interesting and always unpleasant, she had hated every second of it, so it came as rather a pleasant surprise when the door to the makeshift jail area of this miserable warehouse creaked open and a small person covered by a black plastic bin bag was herded into Hermione's neighbouring cell. For a very small person she was making an awful lot of noise and Hermione couldn't help wondering why on earth these monsters had taken a child.

" You're not going to get away with this!" the girl was shouting.

" Shut up!" one of the guards shouted exasperatedly, evidently this girl had been going on for a while now.

" No you shut up imbecile!" the girl angrily exclaimed. " And get this bag off me it smells!" Her wish was evidently granted in the hope that she would stop making a noise if she was un-bagged. Miraculously, it did help and the girl stopped making a racket and merely seethed. The guard glared back at the girl before turning on heel and stomping out complaining about loud-mouthed brats.

" Hi," Hermione tried tentatively when she was sure the girl had calmed down. Next to her she heard shuffling as the girl had evidently jumped in fright, not knowing she had company in this dreary prison.

" Hi," she replied softly. " What are you in for?" she asked humorously. Hermione chuckled.

" I wish I knew, it's been so long I don't remember. You?"

" Being an idiot and following two obviously deranged Dutch people into a trap," the girl grumbled.

" Any idea why they were after you?"

" Dunno, talking rudely to a squib? Is that an offence here?" Once more Hermione chuckled, this girl was enchanting.

" Not sure where here is, though I wouldn't imagine that's why they've taken you," she said sadly.

" Here is Holland," the girl said firmly. " And no I think you're right, it's probably because we didn't pay on that muggle tram, unless…" She paused and Hermione heard a loud sigh.

" Want to talk about it?" the woman offered kindly, but the girl shook her head in the gloom.

" Not really, it's kind of a long story," she muttered. " And I'm beginning to think that…well, that there's not going to be a happy ending."

" Well I'm not going anywhere, and I can't remember the time I had a decent conversation, except maybe with myself," Hermione tried. Next to her the girl chuckled and it was such an uplifting sound that Hermione smiled, the warmth of a lifetime of memories she had just become reacquainted with flooding back to her. This girl reminded her of someone she had known.

" Well I guess it all started when I was born…or rather, nine months before I was born when my parents helped defeat the dark lord," the girl explained and in a gasp Hermione suddenly knew why this girl sounded familiar. With aching malnourished limbs she forced herself onto her knees and shuffled over to the wall that divided her from her daughter and she pushed herself up against the damp metal feeling tears stinging her eyes. " You alright?"

" Go on," she exclaimed breathily.

" Okay then, well anyway, they weren't terribly popular after that as you can imagine, and well my family sort of became hunted, for six years that wasn't a problem until one day they took my mum…" The girl…no, Leshia, her Leshia, paused and sounded as though she were gulping back an indescribable pain. " Everyone thought she'd been killed, but I knew, I knew she was still alive and nobody believed me until this year when she started writing to us again. That's why we're here, to save her! I think that's why they've captured me…we were getting too close." On the other side of the rusting metal wall the mother she had sought for so long sank down the wall, only inches from the daughter she'd been thinking of since she had reclaimed her memories. It would be so easy to reach round the bars and touch her, to reveal who she was and still the pain that was in her little girl's heart, and yet…it wouldn't come. Fighting away tears Hermione pushed herself from the wall and turned her back on it. How could she just barge into their lives again? What if her untrustworthy memory decided to disappear again? What if she hurt her daughter all over again?

" That's terribly sad," she said softly.

" Yeah it sucks," Leshia sighed. " More so, because now I've gone and got myself captured. I bet my dad's going mad." Hermione shut her eyes tight: Draco. He was here, he was looking for her. The thought made her heart want to explode out of her chest, how she had missed his smile and his rugged strength.

" I'm sure he'll find you," Hermione managed through a constricted throat. In the cell next-door Leshia was now on her knees staring ahead at the metal wall.

" What did you say your name was?" she asked sounding suspicious.

" I didn't," Hermione uttered softly. " It's Luna, Luna Lovegood." It had been the only name that had sprang to mind, and as it turned out, had not been a very prudent choice.

" Really?" Her daughter was sounding extremely cocky and extremely incredulous. " What a coincidence, you don't sound like Luna Lovegood and I don't recall her going missing, in fact just before I left Hogwarts I read her article about the Vampire Conspiracy in the ministry of Magic." Hermione snorted despite herself, Luna was still as kooky as ever it would seem. The pair lulled into silence, until finally it was broken by the most pathetic heart-wrenching thing Hermione had ever heard,

" Mum?" Never in her life had Hermione heard such heartbreak nor such hope in one word. It took her all the strength she could muster to force away the tears that were threatening to spill down her face.

" I don't know what you mean," she countered, managing to sound confused. " I don't have a daughter…"

" I think you do." Even more pathetic this time, her daughter was sounding crushed, and the pain it was causing her was so intense that Hermione keeled over onto her side, hugging her skinny body for comfort. " Why won't you talk to me? Have I done something wrong?"

" I don't know what you mean Leshia," Hermione countered, gathering strength from the fact that the sooner she left her daughter's life, the sooner this pain would too. In the cell next-door Leshia hung her head, her doleful expression drilling through the metal wall, willing to see the mother she had sorely missed.

" I never told you my name," she whispered and a tear fell onto her cheek.

" Yes you did," Hermione tried desperately.

" No," Leshia said forcefully. " I didn't." Hermione was never given a chance to respond as the door to the cellblock swung open and the most ghastly of their oppressor's stepped in. He was grinning manically at the young girl his cronies had brought in, and something about his look let Leshia know that whatever was about to happen was going to hurt.

" No!" Hermione cried out as the guards stepped towards her daughter's cell and wrenched the door open.

" We need to ask you a few questions my pet," the evil monster trilled, clasping his hands together in front of his chest.

" I haven't got anything to say," Leshia countered sounding much braver than she felt.

" No you can't take her!" Hermione was on her feet now, her face pressed against the bars, desperately trying to stop this nightmare from unfolding. As much as Leshia tried, she couldn't see past the guard who had her in his iron grip, so she could lay eyes on her mother.

" Why do you care?" the villain asked scathingly, his attention now focused on the desperate mother. In turn the guard holding Leshia spun around, bringing his charge around with him and mother and daughter laid eyes on each other for the first time in nearly six years. Hermione couldn't ignore her maternal emotions now as they threatened to tear her heart to shreds.

" Because," she almost wailed. " She's my daughter!"

_Booooooooooooom_

The noise was so unbelievably loud that everyone reached to cover their ears, this gave Leshia time to escape her captor and she ran straight into the awaiting arms of her mother, who sank down on the other side of her cruel cell and hugged her young child to her chest with such strength, she hadn't know her tired body had been capable of it.

" Mum! You _do_ remember," Leshia whispered into her mother's sodden age-old clothes.

" Of course I remember," Hermione exclaimed powerfully, but no sooner had she reclaimed her daughter was she ripped cruelly from her grasp by the guard. Most of the men had disappeared in a panic from the cellblock to defend their safe hold from the attacks that were sounding all around the warehouse. Feeling perhaps a moment of sympathy, or perhaps from sheer laziness the guard opened Hermione's cell door and forced the girl in. Mother and daughter embraced once more.

" Look at you," Hermione whispered, reaching out and stroking her daughter's hair away from a face that hadn't changed since she was six years old.

" Look at _you_," Leshia countered sounding pained, taking in her mother's shrunken appearance. " I'll kill them," the girl hissed angrily. Hermione laughed and pulled the girl into another embrace as the explosions sounded around them.

XXX

" _Ron_," Draco hissed loudly once the ringing in his ears had ceased. " I said not _yet_!" Ron looked wide-eyed from the pandemonium he had just caused to the angry and surprised faces of his friends.

" I'm sorry," he uttered hurriedly.

" Look never mind, let's just go!" Harry ordered and everyone leapt from their positions into the fray of fighting wizards – the rest of their party had got over the surprise start moments before and had set the plan into action. The three young men crouched low, trying to stay out of sight while the scouted out the warehouse.

" That's where they're being held," Draco hissed to the other two, having to duck down as a wayward curse flew past his shorn hair. " Easy!" he yelled angrily from their hidden position and he rubbed furiously at his singed hair. His complaint went unnoticed and the trio carefully crossed the warehouse floor until they finally reached the grim looking cellblock.

" On my count," Draco whispered, looking severely at Ron, who hung his head meekly. " One…two…three!" The three men charged in, their wands at the ready, but they never had to use the curses they had ready on the tips of their tongues as the cellblock was very much abandoned.

" Damn it!" Harry grumbled and he rushed across to the other side of the cellblock where an open door stood.

" We must have got it wrong," Ron exclaimed sounding defeated.

" No," Draco said firmly, his eyes lingering on a tuft of blonde hair that lay tumbling in the breeze flittering in from an open window. " They were here."

" You're right, and if we don't move fast they'll get away!" Harry called out to the other two. In a flash the three of them were gone, chasing after the guards who had Hermione and Leshia – clutching at the side of her head furiously, silently cursing the guard who had pulled out a handful of her hair in their struggle – and were dragging them away towards an open exit. The men just weren't quick enough.

" No!" Draco yelled out sounding agonised, when it looked as though they were going to get away, but at this moment two hulking figures stepped into the path of the frantic guards and their prey: Snape and Dumbledore. The chaos of curses and hexes that ensued gave the men a chance to catch up, but they were dragged instantly into the fray, not giving Draco a chance to embrace his wife and child, who had dived for protection behind some crates. Guards and dark wizards were appearing as though from nowhere and even though the team fought gallantly, they were fast becoming outnumbered.

" Mum can you fight?" Leshia whispered as she crawled on all fours towards the unconscious body of a guard. Hermione instantly realised her daughter's plan.

" More than you can imagine," she said angrily, thinking of all the torture she had endured at their hands, and she quickly followed her daughter to another guard's limp body. With two wands in their hands they jumped to their feet catching several guards by surprise and even though Leshia's curse knowledge was limited, she still managed to paralyse several of the guards. Her mother ensured she came to no harm by blocking the spells. After several minutes of furious battling it seemed their oppressors were no longer.

" Hermione," Draco's pained voice came and turning round Hermione saw her husband had fallen to his knees, reaching out to his missed wife with an agonised expression.

" No," Hermione cried and she ran forward along with several of the others.

" Dad!" Leshia cried out struggling with Harry who was holding her back.

" Albus," Hermione urged helplessly, but Dumbledore was shaking his head slowly.

" You are far more capable in this field than I my dear girl," he said and he crouched down beside his sorely missed friend. Hermione looked on her battered husband's body and she took out her wand, wordlessly moving it across his body trying to heal whatever internal damage was sucking the life from him. Leshia silently cried in the background as everyone in the rescue team limped their way back to the group. Try as she might Draco's eyes remained closed and Hermione started to lose hope.

" Mum what are you doing?" Leshia demanded, seeing her mother faltering. " You can save him I know you can!" Looking up into the desperate look on her daughter's face Hermione saw the heartbreak that was threatening to break loose. Without Draco, her daughter would fall, and without her daughter Hermione would soon follow. Turning back on the face of her beloved husband, Hermione narrowed her eyes, tightening her concentration.

Slowly, very slowly, she started to feel the progress her healing was making on her husband's health and even more painfully slowly, he started to open his eyes.

" I thought I was the damsel in distress," Hermione said softly, her eyes smiling lovingly, tears welling in them.

" You know me," Draco croaked and he struggled to push himself up onto his forearms. " Love to be the centre of attention." As the long separated lovers gazed into each others' eyes their daughter was released and she instantly dropped down beside her father, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. Draco barely noticed, his eyes still on his wife.

" Hi," he said softly and he reached out to touch a tuft of hair that had fallen down from behind Hermione's hair.

" Hi," she replied equally as softly, and she laughed as the tears fell from her eyes.

" I hate to break up this _touching _reunion," Snape interrupted. " But there are sure to be more wizards on their way. We should make our way out to the portkey straight away."

" Agreed," Draco said, though he winced as he heaved himself up onto his feet with the help of his wife and daughter. " I'm fine," he laughed and shook them off, though looking at his daughter's trembling lower lip he quickly pulled her into a one-armed hug. " Really, I'm fine," he repeated for her benefit, and after squeezing her shoulders tightly he allowed himself to be helped towards the portkey Crayik had managed to set up just outside the warehouse. Snape had been right in his suspicions and as they reached for the portkey – an old tire – several wand-bearing wizards rounded the corner, but they shimmered away only to be replaced by the somewhat transparent figure of a large cloaked man.

" Beware!" it called to them in a scathing, booming voice. " Beware of the dark reign. For twelve years it has remained untouched, it will return. Those you thought were once lost will return. The horrors you thought you once beat will return. You will not live out this fight." The message fell on the darkness of nothing as the group disappeared into the night.

XXX

That evening there was a gathering reminiscent of years long gone by. In a private chamber off the main hall a long beautifully decorated table was erected and at it's decadent places sat; Leshia sandwiched by her fully recovered – Madam Pomfry had seen to that – parents, Katie equally sandwiched by her own parents, Rachel at her father's side (enjoying his undivided attention for once – her sisters usually claimed that whenever they dined together), Dumbledore, McGonagall, and even Snape. Laughter was extremely prominent that evening as the group of friends caught up. Hermione was horrified by the number of children Ron and Lavender had spawned, when last she checked they had had but three daughters. Towards the end of the meal when the children started to look incredibly sleepy Dumbledore rose to his feet, a glass of wine in his hand.

" I would like to say, on behalf of everyone at this table I am sure, how glad we are to have you back in our midst dear Hermione," he said with sparkling eyes. A round of 'hear hear' went up around the table as everyone clamoured to agree with the headmaster. " Furthermore, I am delighted to have the opportunity to offer you a position here at the school."

" A position?" Hermione repeated with a small smile while Leshia at her side sat up curiously.

" I have just this week been informed that Professor Larkin, our runes teacher, has decided to take a career change and will be leaving us after Easter," Dumbledore explained.

" Yes," Leshia whispered loudly sounding triumphant. Everyone at the table turned to grin at her, and she quickly hung her head feeling sheepish, had she said that out loud?

" That leaves us with an Ancient Runes vacancy that I cannot imagine being filled by any other than the best," Dumbledore was continuing looking over his half-moon glasses at his once star pupil, who now had tears welling up in her eyes.

" Professor…I would be honoured."

XXX

Once the children had eventually been excused to bed they changed in a sleepy silence and then gathered on Leshia's bed once more, it had been only a week since she had left and so much had happened it seemed as though an age had gone by. Leshia gleefully told them an exaggerated version of the story they'd already heard over dinner and by the end of it her friends were staring at her wide-eyed.

" You always get to have all the fun Leesh, I can't believe it," Rachel said grimly. Leshia laughed.

" Weren't you listening, most of that trip was horrendous!" she managed through her laughter.

" Yeah well we were stuck here and you wouldn't believe who they got to cover our lessons," Rachel grumbled. Leshia raised her eyebrows. " The ghosts!"

" What?" Leshia cackled, rolling around on the bed in laughter.

" Yes that's right, all they did was tell us really boring stories about their lives and deaths, I don't know how we managed," Katie added in an equally petulant tone. " I can't wait to get our teachers back now, I tell you!" They lulled into a pleasant silence that was only broken by a semi fed-up sigh from Leshia.

" I can't believe that _both_ my parents are going to be teachers next year," she grumbled. Katie and Rachel looked to one and other with big smiles and then they rolled their eyes in unison.

" Oh shut it Malfoy, you're delighted!" Rachel laughed and she reached behind herself for a pillow to bash her friend with. A mad sporadic pillow fight of old developed and by the end of it the girls were lying in a fit of giggles, gleeful that everything had turned alright in the end.

XXX

Easter was a joyous occasion as all the families descended on the burrow for a much-needed reunion. Molly mothered everyone and filled everyone up with good food, so much so, that by the end of the two-week holiday Hermione no longer looked as though she could break at the slightest touch. Once back at school the mood of the students turned sombre as they started preparing for their end of year exams and the weeks that separated them from their dreaded fate seemed to race past. Before they knew it their week of examinations was upon them and the children took to the sunny grounds like a moth to a flame to escape the madness in the castle.

Luckily the nightmarish week of exams soon passed and Leshia was secretly confidant that she had aced most of her exams, except potions perhaps as Snape had terrified her every time she moved by writing something on his mark-sheet. Nothing though could dampen her spirits every time she saw her parents pass each other in the corridor. Their love had definitely reignited and they were almost like shy teenagers around one and other once more, trying to rediscover one and other and fall in love all over again. At first they had resided in their separate quarters, but once, when Leshia had been summoned to her father's office for detention – having defied him three times on the 'no speaking rule' – she had noticed his bedroom was devoid of any personal artefacts and she realised he and her mother were 'back together' officially.

As the end of term loomed and the children received their marks they were all pleasantly surprised to see they had all performed outstandingly. Leshia didn't know how proud her mother felt when she found out from McGonagall that her daughter had received a full sheet of Os. The end of year banquet came a little too quickly and the Gryffindors, though gleeful they won the quidditch cup, were angry to be picked to the post on the house cup, losing out to Ravenclaw by only ten points. The evening seemed to go by in a blur and the girls were sad when they realised that this was their last night together. They felt like sisters and each was grim to go back to their homes – Rachel to a house full of annoying little sisters, Katie to the world's most competitive brother and Leshia to a happy home, but alas, to no siblings whatsoever. They would all miss each other dreadfully.

The following morning came all too soon, and as the girls had spent the night chatting and giggling they were all exhausted little wrecks. Within the first hour of the journey back to London they'd all fallen asleep. While Rachel dreamt of chocolate frogs jumping in and out of a fountain of Berty Botts All Flavour Beans, and Katie dreamt about living a day in Leshia's shoes. What was on Leshia's mind however, was more peculiar than any other dream she had ever had…

" _Miss Leshia run!" Tally's voice cried out before a blinding flash and a man's voice filled the kitchen of the old townhouse. Backing into the staircase Leshia looked on the hall of her house with new eyes. She was much closer to the ground than she ought to have been and hanging by the door was a jacket she could remember having when she was but seven years old. Frantic breathing filled the hall and Leshia was surprised to find it coming from her own mouth._

" _Where are you?" the man's horrible cry came and soon a lumbering tall figure skidded into the hall. Leshia darted back stumbling on the steps. This man, this wild haired scarred man looked familiar to her somehow, she saw her father and herself reflected in his features. " There you are," the horrible man hissed and he raised his wand._

" _No!" Leshia's child-like cry came. " I didn't do anything! No!" Bracing herself for the blow that never came Leshia dared to look up and saw the man had gone, though the sound of struggling from the next room revealed he was fighting with yet another houself that Leshia could not remember. Taking no chance she darted up the stairs as fast as her seven-year-old legs could take her. Once she reached the landing she pushed every door open before darting into her father's gloomy room. As she dropped to her knees and dragged herself under his bed she heard the hurried heavy footsteps of that horrid man in her wake._

" _Where are you?" his mangled cry came. Leshia pushed herself further into the darkness, her tears spattering down onto the hardwood floor. " Where are you my precious? Why are you afraid of your own grandpa?" Leshia gasped, that is why she recognised his face. " Come here!" her grandfather hissed into the dark. He was approaching her position slowly, as though he knew where it was she was hiding. He would have found her had the sound of the door opening and closing below not caught his attention._

" _Hello?"_

'_Daddy!' Leshia thought desperately and she feared so terribly for what her grandfather would do to him. Too afraid of what he might do to her if she called out she watched as the feet stalked away. Once she heard him descending the steps and an angry muffled conversation ensuing she dragged herself out from under the bed and darted across the landing into the upstairs parlour where a dumbwaiter stood in the corner. She jumped into it and lowered it to the ground floor – a game she had played when she was little turning to necessity. On the ground floor she could hear the shocked argument her father was having with his father in turn and she hurried round the back corridors of the house into the kitchen._

" _Tally," he young voice whispered in surprise when she found the elf paralysed on the ground. Her young eyes darted about the kitchen until she found a jar full of stones – the ones she had collected on their recent holiday to the beach. She took it from the counter amazed at how high it seemed to her younger self, and then set off to the door leading off from the hall. First her eyes took in her father with longer hair, and having just walked in from work, dressed still in his long coat. He was staring in shock at his father, who had his wand aimed at his son, a furious expression on his face. Without stopping to think Leshia took aim and threw the jar at her grandfather. She missed her target and the jar clattered to the ground cracking the slate tile it landed on._

" _No!" Draco yelled out frantically as Lucius took aim at young Leshia. The spell Lucius cast never hit Leshia however, as Draco uttered a counter curse that caused Lucius' to miss and hit the wall causing a large crack to form. As Draco disarmed his father Leshia rushed to his side, clambering inside his coat and clasping onto his leg like a limpet, watching her grandfather from her now protected position._

" _Now you listen…Leesh"_

" Leesh!"

" Huh?" Leshia woke with a start and stared at Rachel with wide eyes.

" We've been asleep the whole time, we're in London," Katie's sad sounding voice came. Leshia spun around and frowned at her too. " You okay?"

" Yeah, you looked like you've seen a ghost!" Rachel added. Leshia frowned and rubbed the side of her head.

" Something like that," she whispered and looked up to see they were pulling into King's Cross. Slowly the girls disembarked with their luggage and reunited with the families. It was time to say goodbye and with teary faces the girls hugged one and other in a group hug.

" I'll write the second I get home," Katie assured them with large teary eyes. The others giggled.

" We'll be seeing each other in a week you idiots," Rachel tried, but she too had tears welling in her eyes.

" Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Leshia called after them as her parents led her away. Hermione and Draco chatted about the plans they had for their summer – Hermione wanting to do research in the north for her Runes lessons and Draco wanting to go to the quidditch world cup and bring Leshia along – but Leshia stayed quiet her thoughts on that strange dream. As Draco opened the door Hermione turned on their daughter.

" Are you all right?" she asked with a concerned frown as Leshia walked into the hall and looked around. Why was it that she had never noticed that cracked tile before? And how could she have missed the large crack in the wall above the kitchen door?

" Your mother asked you a question," Draco said cheerfully clapping her behind the head. Leshia grinned at him and turned to Hermione with a distant smile.

" I will be…"

THE END

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_Finite! _Sequels? You want them? Let me know.


	6. Update

_GO READ THE SEQUAL :) IT IS UP **NOW** ON MY PROFILE PAGE!_

_The sequel is up on my profile :-) just click my username to find it!_

If you enjoyed 'Generations: Finding Home', be sure to go check it out, and remember, review, review, review, I pour my heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears…ugh you name it, into these stories

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_Synopsis_

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**Generations: Tales of the Last Stand**

The second part to my Generations series involving the second generation at Hogwarts - Leshia Malfoy (Hermione and Draco's wayward daughter); Rachel Weasley (Ron and Lavender's daughter); and Katie Potter (Harry and Ginny's daughter) - as well as many other Weasleys and offspring of well-knowns

In this installment we will see more action from the troublesome trio, as they uncover secrets of the past that their parents had kept from them. Dark signs start appearing all over the wizarding world and after the girls stumble across a meeting their parents are holding with well-known members of the Order of the Phoenix their suspicions are further aroused. Meanwhile, it would seem someone is out to get Leshia, but who is it, or is it merely a figment of her overreactive imagination?

With Katie maturing slightly ahead of her friends, and Leshia's body refusing to grow up, there's a little tension in the air at Hogwarts this year. Promising to be action packed and full of new and old generation fun, read _Generations: Tales of the last Stand_


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